This paper describes a technique that numerically reconstructs the complex acoustic amplitude (i.e. the acoustic amplitude and phase) of a compression acoustic wave in the interior volume of a specimen from a set of full-field optical measurements of the instantaneous displacement of the surface. The volume of a thick specimen is probed in transmission mode by short bursts of narrowband compression acoustic waves generated at one of its faces. The temporal evolution of the displacement field induced by the bursts emerging at the opposite surface is measured by pulsed digital holographic interferometry (pulsed TV holography). A spatio-temporal 3D Fourier transform processing of the measured data yields the complex acoustic amplitude at the plane of the surface as a sequence of 2D complex-valued maps. Finally, a numerical implementation of the Rayleigh–Sommerfeld diffraction formula is employed to reconstruct the complex acoustic amplitude at other planes in the interior volume of the specimen. The whole procedure can be regarded as a combination of optical digital holography and acoustical holography methods. The technique was successfully tested on aluminium specimens with and without an internal artificial defect and sample results are presented. In particular, information about the shape and position of the defect was retrieved in the experiment performed on the flawed specimen, which indicates the potential applicability of the technique for the nondestructive testing of materials.

The paper describes a hybrid technique, aimed at nondestructive inspection of materials, that combines wholefield optic measurements, acoustic excitation and a numerical reconstruction method. The interior of a thick specimen is probed by short bursts of narrowband ultrasonic bulk waves. The acoustic wavefronts that constitute the burst emerge at the opposite face of the sample and induce periodic displacements of its surface. These displacements are measured by TV holography, a whole-field optical technique, also known as electronic speckle pattern interferometry (ESPI). The measurement process yields the complex amplitude (i.e., amplitude and phase) of the acoustic wavefronts at the plane of the surface as a series of 2-D, complex-valued maps. Lastly, a numerical reconstruction algorithm that uses the Rayleigh-Sommerfeld diffraction formula is employed to calculate the amplitude and phase of the acoustic wavefronts at any other plane in the interior of the specimen. This procedure is analogous to the numerical reconstruction of optical object wavefronts in digital holography (with light and free space taking the place of acoustic waves and the material medium, respectively), so the present method could also be designated as digital opto-acoustic holography. If the wavefronts are affected by the presence of inhomogeneities in the medium, information about the shape and position of such defects could be retrieved from the reconstructed wavefront at the appropriate depth. The technique herein proposed was successfully tested in an alluminium specimen with an artificial defect.