A chirp excitation for focussing flexural waves

Abstract

In this paper, the dispersive nature of flexural waves is exploited to generate a shock response at an arbitrary location on a waveguide. The input waveform is an up-chirp whose instantaneous frequency is chosen to ensure synchronous arrival at an arbitrary focal point. An analytical expression is derived for the required chirp waveform as a function of bandwidth and focal point location given prior knowledge of the dispersion relation.The principle is illustrated for an analytical model of a uniform beam. Simulated results show that it is possible, in theory, to achieve peak responses that are at least an order of magnitude larger than steady state response due to harmonic excitation. Further, the peak response increases with approximately the square root of distance from the point of excitation when damping is negligible. Velocity, acceleration, normal strain and shear stress exhibit qualitatively similar results which differ quantitatively owing to their different frequency responses with respect to the input.A single degree-of-freedom model of an electrodynamic shaker is coupled to the analytical beam model in order to predict peak mechanical responses per peak input voltage of the chirp waveform. The coupled electromechanical model is then validated experimentally through both frequency response and transient measurements. The technique is potentially applicable to situations where a large and reasonably localised transient response is required on a beam or plate-like structure using minimal instrumentation.