Numerical and experimental analysis of guided waves propagation in composite plates

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the scattering behavior of defects in composite plates. Scattering coefficients are of great importance for the estimation of wave-damage interaction, for the interpretation of recorded Lamb wave signals, and for the development of novel signal processing strategies. The anisotropy of composite laminates makes modeling of wave propagation and the numerical estimation of scattering coefficients particularly challenging. The paper studies numerical models of wave propagation in composites, and evaluates their predictive ability. These evaluations rely of full wave field measurements on selected composite plate specimens, through which information on dispersion and directionality of propagation are conveniently extracted. In addition, filtering in the frequency-wavenumber domain allows the extraction of scattered wave fields and the estimation of the scattering coefficients. Comparisons between numerical and experimental data highlight modeling challenges, illustrate mesh-driven directional propagation, and suggest an effective strategy for the estimation of the scattering coefficients through tests and FE modeling.