Abstract: Methods are disclosed for evaluating a material on a remote side of a partition separating first and second domains wherein flexural waves within the partition are received by spaced-apart ultrasonic receivers and processed to determine the velocity of the waves propagating into the second domain from a first receiver to a second receiver located more remote from the transmitter than the first receiver and whose separation from the first receiver is known. Comparison of a theoretical phase velocity with the measured phase velocity of the recorded waves allows determination as to whether the flexural wave is propagating through solid. This may be based on a measurable deviation between the two curves occurring at a critical frequency, which may be identified by a perturbation in a group velocity plot. Discrimination may also be based on the gradient of a straight line that best-fits the attention dispersion of the frequency spectrum.

Abstract: Material on a remote side of a partition separating first and second domains is evaluated by disposing at least one ultrasonic transmitter and a plurality of spaced ultrasonic receivers along a first side of the partition in the first domain. The transmitter is activated to form ultrasonic waveforms that comprise propagated quasi leaky-Lamb waves constituting extensional waves having symmetrical zero-order modes within the partition. The received ultrasonic waveforms are processed to determine the envelope of the waves propagating through the partition from a first receiver to a second receiver that is located more remote from the transmitter than the first receiver and whose separation from the first receiver is known. The integral envelope attenuation per distance of the wave propagating through the second domain over a predefined interval establishes that the second domain contains a solid when higher than a predetermined threshold.