Ultrasonic guided wave scattering in a plate overlap.

Area of Science:

• Structural health monitoring
• Wave mechanics
• Materials science

Background:

• Understanding guided wave propagation and scattering is crucial for structural integrity assessment.
• Plate overlaps and lap joints are common in various engineering structures, posing challenges for inspection.
• Nondestructive evaluation (NDE) methods are needed to assess the condition of these complex joints.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate guided wave scattering phenomena in plate overlap regions.
• To numerically and experimentally determine transmission and reflection factors for different guided wave modes.
• To assess the feasibility of Lamb wave-based NDE for overlapped and multilayer structures.

Main Methods:

• Hybrid boundary element-finite element method for numerical scattering calculations.
• Experimental measurements of transmission and reflection factors in steel plate overlaps.
• Parametric studies varying incident modes, frequencies, and overlap lengths.

Main Results:

• Numerical calculations accurately predicted guided wave scattering, including higher mode generation.
• Experimental results showed good agreement with numerical predictions for transmission and reflection factors.
• Both numerical and experimental data confirm the influence of overlap geometry and wave parameters.

Conclusions:

• Guided wave scattering in plate overlaps can be effectively analyzed using hybrid numerical methods.
• Lamb wave NDE is a viable technique for inspecting overlapped and multilayered structures.
• Optimizing wave modes and frequencies enables efficient evaluation of complex joint geometries.