Wave propagation in composite structures

Abstract

Dynamic behaviour of honeycomb-core composite structures forms the framework of this article. The wave numbers of propagative waves are the elements of comparison between a numerical method (wave finite-element method) and an experimental identification technique (inhomogeneous wave correlation). The numerical method is based on the description of the dynamics of periodic waveguides. The experimental technique uses a matching criterion with the measured displacement field to obtain the corresponding wave numbers for a wave-based description of the displacement. Both approaches are applied to a sandwich composite beam with a honeycomb core. They seem to be in quite good accordance with analytical results for the flexural wave number.