Rayleigh wave interaction with a spherical ball in contact with a plane surface

This work presents an experimental and a numerical study of the interaction between an ultrasonic acoustic surface wave propagating on the surface of an Aluminum block with a spherical solid object, meanly a steel ball, like the ones found in ball bearings. The study is focused on characterizing the nature of the waves propagating on the sphere and the ones generated by this last after its interaction with the direct wave. The experimental part is carried out using a shear transducer to generate the surface waves and a laser vibrometer as a measurement tool. The numerical study is performed using a finite element method.