ON THE REFLECTION OF PLANE-WAVES IN TRANSVERSELY ISOTROPIC MEDIA

Formulas for the reflection factors of plane quasilongitudindl and quasitransverse waves from free surfaces in transversely isotropic media are used to generate necessary conditions for no mode conversion at such surfaces. The conditions enable the determination of incident angles where no mode conversion occurs without having to solve the reflection problem in detail. These results are of practical importance in the nondestructive evaluation of transversely isotropic (or higher symmetry) materials since inspecting at an angle where no mode conversion occurs will greatly simplify the analysis of the returning echoes by reducing the number of waves (homogeneous or inhomogeneous) that are generated at the surface.