Structural adhesive bonding characterization using guided Lamb waves and the vertical modes

摘要

The aim of this paper is to present a method to evaluate and qualify the adhesion level in a structural metal/adhesive/metal bonding using ultrasonic guided Lamb waves. The samples are manufactured with different surface treatments in order to obtain different levels of adhesion. Using Lamb dispersion modes associated to the Jones rheological model, it is shown that it is possible to evaluate different levels of adhesion. Furthermore, the vertical longitudinal mode V-L is particularly focused. Results show that the measurement of its frequency cut-off, which is very simple and fast to achieve, can be a very good indicator on the integrity of the bonding.