Abstract In this paper, we present a formulation and numerical simulation for the noninvasive determination of the material parameter ratios (i.e., the Lamé parameters divided by density) of an isotropic, inhomogenous elastic medium subject to time harmonic vibration. Given a knowledge of the displacements throughout the medium, a novel implementation of a variational formulation is used to determine the ratios lambda/rho and mu/rho. A theoretical formulation is presented and validated using numerical data obtained from a finite element method. The results indicate that the method may be applied locally within an inhomogenous medium, and that the corresponding material parameters can be recovered to a high degree of accuracy. In addition, the method does not appear to be subject to the typical wavelength constraints of previous methods.
1998 IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control 45:751-759
© 1998, by The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. All rights reserved.