Elastic scattering by planar fractures

Remote sensing of fractures with elastic waves is important in fields ranging from seismology to non-destructive testing. While previous analytic descriptions of scattering mostly concern very large or very small fractures {left parenthesis, less than bracket}compared to the dominant wavelength{right parenthesis, greater than bracket}, we present an analytic solution for the scattering of elastic waves from a fracture of arbitrary size. Based on the linear-slip model for a fracture, we derive the scattered amplitude in the frequency domain under the Born approximation for all combinations of incident and scattered wave modes. Our analytic results match laser-based ultrasonic laboratory measurements of a single fracture in clear plastic, allowing us to quantify the compliance of a fracture.