Propagation of elastic waves in a plate with rough surfaces

Abstract The characteristics of Lamb wave propagating in a solid plate with rough surfaces are studied on the basis of small perturbation approximation. The Rayleigh-Lamb frequency equation expressed with SA matrix is presented. The Rayleigh-Lamb frequency equation fora rough surface plate is different from that for a smooth surface plate, resulting in a small perturbation Δk on Lamb wave vector k. The imaginary part of Δk gives the attenuation caused by wave scattering. An experiment is designed to test our theoretical predications.By using wedge-shape pipes, different Lamb Wave modes are excited. The signals at different positions are received and analyzed to get the dispersion curves and attenuations of different modes. The experimental results are compared with the theoretical predications.