Nonlinear acoustic spectroscopy of local defects in geomaterials

General approaches to solving the problem of nonlinear acoustic spectroscopy of defects in geomaterials are considered. Expressions that relate the nonlinear response (scattering at combination frequencies) to the position, orientation, and nonlinear characteristics of narrow cracks are obtained. The expressions describe a broad class of nonlinear interactions at a crack. The nonlinearity caused by the contact of uneven rough edges of a crack is analyzed in detail. The results of the analysis are compared with the results obtained earlier from considering micromechanical models and with experimental data. The satisfactory agreement between the theoretical and experimental values of Landau's moduli suggests that the mechanism of contact nonlinearity may manifest itself in the process of fracture of polycrystalline rock, when narrow cracks with uneven edges are formed. Numerical examples demonstrate the possibility of determining the orientation and position of a narrow crack. The procedure of solving the problem of crack localization is illustrated by the example of a crack in a thin rod. The importance of taking into account the phase data in the determination of the crack coordinate is pointed out.