Effect of misalignment of air-coupled probes on Ao Lamb mode propagating in a metal plate

Proper alignment of air-coupled ultrasonic transducers for generation and reception of Lamb waves is vital in order to acquire a high amplitude wave group. Any misalignment with either the transmitter or the receiver or both adversely influences the amplitude of a Lamb mode. This paper reports a systematic attempt to quantify the reduction in the amplitude of the fundamental anti-symmetric Lamb mode (Ao) in a metal plate caused by misalignments in air-coupled probes. Three different types of misalignments - linear, orientation and synchronised orientation were deliberately introduced in the transducers, and experiments were performed on a 6mm thick aluminium plate. Amplitudes of Ao mode measured at various configurations were normalised with that of Ao mode, captured in a reference configuration. Suitable curves fitted over the experimental data points revealed that Gaussian curves represent appropriately the variations in normalised amplitudes of Ao mode. Moreover, analytical expressions were derived to predict the difference in arrival times of Lamb mode(s) due to orientation and synchronised orientation misalignments.