WFR-2D: an analytical model for PWAS-generated 2D ultrasonic guided wave propagation

Abstract

This paper presents WaveFormRevealer 2-D (WFR-2D), an analytical predictive tool for the simulation of 2-D ultrasonic guided wave propagation and interaction with damage. The design of structural health monitoring (SHM) systems and self-aware smart structures requires the exploration of a wide range of parameters to achieve best detection and quantification of certain types of damage. Such need for parameter exploration on sensor dimension, location, guided wave characteristics (mode type, frequency, wavelength, etc.) can be best satisfied with analytical models which are fast and efficient. The analytical model was constructed based on the exact 2-D Lamb wave solution using Bessel and Hankel functions. Damage effects were inserted in the model by considering the damage as a secondary wave source with complex-valued directivity scattering coefficients containing both amplitude and phase information from wave-damage interaction. The analytical procedure was coded with MATLAB, and a predictive simulation tool called WaveFormRevealer 2-D was developed. The wave-damage interaction coefficients (WDICs) were extracted from harmonic analysis of local finite element model (FEM) with artificial non-reflective boundaries (NRB). The WFR-2D analytical simulation results were compared and verified with full scale multiphysics finite element models and experiments with scanning laser vibrometer. First, Lamb wave propagation in a pristine aluminum plate was simulated with WFR-2D, compared with finite element results, and verified by experiments. Then, an inhomogeneity was machined into the plate to represent damage. Analytical modeling was carried out, and verified by finite element simulation and experiments. This paper finishes with conclusions and suggestions for future work.