Since ultrasonic velocities in anisotropic media can change by a factor of
3 or more depending on the direction of propagation, accounting for these
changes is extremely important. Also many anisotropic materials are made
up of multiple layers of varying orientation, hence the need to account
for refraction at ply boundaries. In the present invention, an algorithm
is used to calculate these velocities and travel times and properly
account for refraction phenomena. Specifically a multilayer SAFT
algorithm has been developed that will calculate the time shift, shift
and sum A-scan waveforms in layered anisotropic media at any given depth,
ply orientation, and number of plies. The algorithm showed an improvement
in signal to noise ratio with synthetic data as was expected. This
algorithm can be used as a replacement for homogenizing material
properties in layered media and will calculate time shifts with increased
accuracy since exact material properties are used.