Single Transducer Pair Lamb Wave Time Reversal for Damage Detection in Composite Laminates

摘要

This paper investigates the potential of single transducer pair guided waves time reversal to detect damage in composite laminates. According to dynamic reciprocity of Lamb waves propagation in linear media, the time reversal process should reconstruct the original signal. The similarity of original and reconstructed time signals is calculated for different damage types using numerical and experimental studies with the aim to investigate, if the interaction of the wave pulse with inhomogeneities introduces any nonlinearity that time reversibility breaks down and single transducer pair time reversal could be used as damage diagnostics tool. 3D explicit finite element analysis is used for the numerical simulation and laser Doppler vibrometry is used to capture out-of-plane displacement time histories excited by an adhesively bonded piezoceramic transducer disc in the experimental time reversal process. In the case of an undamaged composite laminate the similarity index used to quantify the similarity of the original and reconstructed wave pulses is better than 95%. The similarity index is smaller for laminates with artificial damages including embedded fluoro polymer films to simulate delamination damage, through holes and bonded mass inhomogeneities. Although numerical and experimental similarity indices are smaller at higher frequencies, there is no clear evidence that single transducer pair time reversibility breaks down and represents a reliable damage diagnostics tool.