Longitudinal and lateral low frequency head wave analysis in soft media

This article studies the influence of the head wave in the lateral and longitudinal components of the displacements generated by the radiation of low-frequency elastic waves in an isotropic and homogeneous soft solid. Low-frequency shear waves are used to characterize elastic properties of soft tissues. In this context, it is useful to have a detailed study of the low-frequency wave field in this kind of material. A soft medium is characterized by the fact that the head wave is found in the source's axis. Even though its amplitude is small compared with the shear wave, it is possible to be observed experimentally by recording consecutive ultrasonic A-lines while the low-frequency wave propagates inside the medium. A standard one-dimensional speckle tracking technique is employed to measure the displacements. Experimental results were interpreted through the exact Green's function solution to the half-space problem. According to the theoretical and experimental analysis, the head wave and surface related terms in general contribute to the displacements in the low-frequency range. This article thoroughly analyzes and experimentally shows the contribution of the head wave for the lateral component, which is not fully addressed by the literature. (c) 2005 Acoustical Society of America.