Ultrasonic texture and stress measurements in anisotropic polycrystalline aggregates

A perturbative treatment of ultrasonic Rayleigh wave propagation is applied to investigate the case of an initally deformed metal plate, assumed to be homogeneous and to consist of an orthotropic disribution of cubic crystallites. Time-of-flight measurement techniques are proposed for the determination of both stress and texture. An analysis of these experimental results and a comparison with results of both ultrasonic bulk waves and neutron diffraction techniques confirm the reliability of this method. The special case of residual stresses is discussed in detail. Measurements of residual stresses with this technique agree with the results of strain gage measurements.