A study of the noncollinear ultrasonic-wave-mixing technique under imperfect resonance conditions

The response of the nonlinear ultrasonic wave mixing technique is verified experimentally in two ways: (1) detection of a kissing bond between two polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plates, and (2) detection of subsurface micro-cracks in polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). A predominant decrease in nonlinear wave energy is observed in both experiments. Beam rotation and splitting is observed in the kissing-bond experiment, while a minor increase in the nonlinear wave energy up to 100% is observed in the micro-cracked PMMA specimen.