Transient bending waves in plates studied by hologram interferometry

Abstract

Propagating bending waves are studied in plates made of aluminum and wood. The waves are generated by the impact of a ballistic pendulum. Hologram interferometry, with a double pulsed ruby laser as the light source, is used to record the out of plane motion of the waves. Elliptic-like fringes visualize differences in wave speed for different directions in the anisotropic plate and circular ones are obtained for the isotropic plate. The experimental data for the isotropic plate compare favorably with analytical results derived from the Kirchhoff-plate equation with a point impact of finite duration. A similarity variable is found when starting conditions are modeled as a Dirac pulse in space and time, that brings new understanding to the importance of specific parameters for wave propagation in plates. A formal solution is obtained for a point force with an arbitrary time dependence. For times much larger than the contact time, the plate deflection is shown to be identical to that from a Dirac pulse applied at the mean contact time. A method for determining material parameters, and the mean contact time, from the interferograms is hence developed.