Flexural and transversal wave motion in homogeneous isotropic thermoelastic plates by using asymptotic method

The present investigation is concerned with the flexural and transversal wave motion in an infinite, transversely isotropic, thermoelastic plate by asymptotic method. The governing equations for the flexural and transversal motions have been derived from the system of three-dimensional dynamical equations of linear theory of coupled thermoelasticity. The asymptotic operator plate model for free vibrations; both flexural and transversal, in a homogenous thermoelastic plate leads to fifth degree and cubic polynomial secular equations, respectively, that governs frequency and phase velocity of various possible modes of wave propagation at all wavelengths. All the coefficients of differential operator have been expressed as explicit functions of the material parameters. The velocity dispersion equations for the flexural and transversal wave motion have been deduced from the three-dimensional analog of Rayleigh-Lamb frequency equation for thermoelastic plate waves. The approximations for long and short waves and expression for group velocity have also been derived. The thermoelastic Rayleigh-Lamb frequency equations for the considered plate are expanded in power series in order to obtain polynomial frequency and velocity dispersion relations whose equivalence is established with that of asymptotic method. The dispersion curves for phase velocity, group velocity and attenuation coefficient of various flexural and transversal wave modes are shown graphically for aluminum-epoxy material elastic and thermoelastic plates.     

Reliability assessment of different plate theories for elastic wave propagation analysis in functionally graded plates

The importance of elastic wave propagation problem in plates arises from the application of ultrasonic elastic waves in non-destructive evaluation of plate-like structures. However, precise study and analysis of acoustic guided waves especially in non-homogeneous waveguides such as functionally graded plates are so complicated that exact elastodynamic methods are rarely employed in practical applications. Thus, the simple approximate plate theories have attracted much interest for the calculation of wave fields in FGM plates. Therefore, in the current research, the classical plate theory (CPT), first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) and third-order shear deformation theory (TSDT) are used to obtain the transient responses of flexural waves in FGM plates subjected to transverse impulsive loadings. Moreover, comparing the results with those based on a well recognized hybrid numerical method (HNM), we examine the accuracy of the plate theories for several plates of various thicknesses under excitations of different frequencies. The material properties of the plate are assumed to vary across the plate thickness according to a simple power-law distribution in terms of volume fractions of constituents. In all analyses, spatial Fourier transform together with modal analysis are applied to compute displacement responses of the plates. A comparison of the results demonstrates the reliability ranges of the approximate plate theories for elastic wave propagation analysis in FGM plates. Furthermore, based on various examples, it is shown that whenever the plate theories are used within the appropriate ranges of plate thickness and frequency content, solution process in wave number-time domain based on modal analysis approach is not only sufficient but also efficient for finding the transient waveforms in FGM plates.     

Localized bending waves in a transversely isotropic plate

The problem of bending waves localized near the free edge of a transversely isotropic plate is investigated using the Ambartsumian higher-order plate theory which takes account of the transverse shears generated by flexural deformation. Unlike the first-order Reissner-Mindlin theory, which also takes account of transverse shears, Ambartsumian's analysis does not demand that plane normal cross-sections remain plane during bending. Within this analysis the existence of localized bending waves in transversely isotropic plates is established, and solutions of the dispersion equation obtained for different values of the elastic parameters.The analysis of frequencies of localized bending waves shows that for thick plates the effect of anisotropy can be considerable. For the particular case of vibrations of a narrow plate, from the long wave approximation a new beam vibration equation of the Timoshenko type is obtained for a transversally isotropic plate.     

Generalized thermoelastic extensional and flexural wave motions in homogenous isotropic plate by using asymptotic method

In this paper the asymptotic method has been applied to investigate propagation of generalized thermoelastic waves in an infinite homogenous isotropic plate. The governing equations for the extensional, transversal and flexural motions are derived from the system of three-dimensional dynamical equations of linear theories of generalized thermoelasticity. The asymptotic operator plate model for extensional and flexural free vibrations in a homogenous thermoelastic plate leads to sixth and fifth degree polynomial secular equations, respectively. These secular equations govern frequency and phase velocity of various possible modes of wave propagation at all wavelengths. The velocity dispersion equations for extensional and flexural wave motion are deduced from the three-dimensional analog of Rayleigh-Lamb frequency equation for thermoelastic plate. The approximation for long and short waves along with expression for group velocity has also been obtained. The Rayleigh-Lamb frequency equations for the considered plate are expanded in power series in order to obtain polynomial frequency and velocity dispersion relations and its equivalence established with that of asymptotic method. The numeric values for phase velocity, group velocity and attenuation coefficients has also been obtained using MATHCAD software and are shown graphically for extensional and flexural waves in generalized theories of thermoelastic plate for solid helium material.     

Dispersion of waves and characteristic wave surfaces in functionally graded piezoelectric plates

An inhomogeneous layer element method is presented to analyze the dispersion of waves and characteristic wave surfaces in plates of functionally graded piezoelectric material (FGPM). In this method, the FGPM plate is divided into a number of layered elements. The elemental elastic and electric properties are assumed as linear functions of the thickness to adopt the variety of the material property of FGPM. The Hamilton principle is applied to determine the governing equations. The phase velocity surface, phase slowness surface, phase wave surface, group velocity surface, group slowness surface, and group wave surface for FGPM plate are formulated using Rayleigh quotient and the orthogonality condition of the eigenvectors. These six surfaces are then used to illustrate the characteristics of waves in FGPM plates. Numerical examples are presented using the present formulations to analyze dispersions and characteristics of waves in FGPM plates.     

Two-dimensional analysis of the effect of an electrode layer on surface acoustic waves in a finite anisotropic plate

The effect of a metal layer over an elastic substrate on surface acoustic wave propagating in the structure can be evaluated precisely for semi-infinite solids and infinite plates, but there is no accurate analytical solution if the finite size of the plate has to be considered. By expanding displacements with eigensolutions of surface acoustic waves in a semi-inifite solid, a set of two-dimensional equations similar to the Mindlin plate theory are obtained. Then for a thin electrode layer, the effect is considered through the approximation of displacements in the metal layer with the ones in the substrate, and an integration over the thickness incorporated the properties of the metal layer into equations through the modification of material properties with the decaying indices of surface acoustic waves and the thickness of the metal layer. Using AT-cut quartz crystal as the substrate, we present the effect of silver electrode layers of finite thickness on the phase velocity of propagating surface acoustic waves.     

Properties of surface waves in an elastic cylinder filled with a liquid

The properties of harmonic surface waves in an elastic cylinder filled with a liquid are studied. The case of elastic material for which the shear wave velocity is higher than the sound velocity in a liquid is considered. The wave motion is described based on the complete system of equations of the dynamic theory of elasticity and the equation of motion of an ideal compressible liquid. The asymptotic analysis of the dispersion equation in the region of large wave numbers and qualitative analysis of the dispersion spectrum showed that in such a waveguiding system there exist two surface waves, the Stoneley and the Rayleigh waves. The lowest normal wave forms the Stoneley wave on the internal surface of the cylinder. In this waveguide phase, velocities of all normal waves, except for the lowest one, have the velocity of sound in the liquid as their limit. Therefore, the Rayleigh wave on the external surface of the cylinder is formed by all normal waves in the range of frequencies and wave numbers in which phase velocities of normal waves of the composite waveguide and the lowest normal wave of the elastic hollow cylinder coincide.     

Lamb wave extraction of dispersion curves in micro/nano-plates using couple stress theories

In this paper, Lamb wave propagation in a homogeneous and isotropic non-classical micro/nano-plates is investigated. To consider the effect of material microstructure on the wave propagation, three size-dependent models namely indeterminate-, modified- and consistent couple stress theories are used to extract the dispersion equations. In the mentioned theories, a parameter called ‘characteristic length’ is used to consider the size of material microstructure in the governing equations. To generalize the parametric studies and examine the effect of thickness, propagation wavelength, and characteristic length on the behavior of miniature plate structures, the governing equations are nondimensionalized by defining appropriate dimensionless parameters. Then the dispersion curves for phase and group velocities are plotted in terms of a wide frequency-thickness range to study the lamb waves propagation considering microstructure effects in very high frequencies. According to the illustrated results, it was observed that the couple stress theories in the Cosserat type material predict more rigidity than the classical theory; so that in a plate with constant thickness, by increasing the thickness to characteristic length ratio, the results approach to the classical theory, and by reducing this ratio, wave propagation speed in the plate is significantly increased. In addition, it is demonstrated that for high-frequency Lamb waves, it converges to dispersive Rayleigh wave velocity.     

轨道板中超声兰姆波传播的有限元计算和实验*

该文针对我国高速铁路轨道板缺陷的非接触动态检测问题,研究了空气耦合超声兰姆波在轨道板中的传播规律。首先,给出了轨道板中超声兰姆波的相速度和群速度频散曲线,结果表明:随着频厚积的增加,频散现象越明显,并且A0相速度收敛于Rayleigh波的波速。然后,建立轨道板中波传播的有限元模型,计算得到兰姆波传播的群速度为2220 m/s,且二维傅里叶变换系数的较大值沿Rayleigh波的频散曲线分布。最后,在沪杭高铁嘉兴南站进行了现场测试,以8.8°倾斜角向轨道板激励产生超声兰姆波,激发产生的兰姆波模态群速度为2325 m/s,且二维傅里叶变换分析其系数的较大值沿Rayleigh波的频散曲线分布。有限元计算结果和实验结果均与理论计算结果一致。该研究为后续轨道板缺陷的非接触动态检测提供了理论依据和实验方法。     

The propagation of Lamb waves in a plate bordered with layers of a liquid.

The influence of liquid layers on the propagation of Lamb waves in a plate of finite thickness is studied theoretically. The dispersion equations of Lamb waves in a plate bordered with layers of liquids are derived. Numerical solutions of the equations show that the phase velocity of Lamb waves changes with the thickness of the liquid layers. For the lowest antisymmetrical mode of very thin plates, the numerical results calculated from the dispersion equations are compared with those derived from the bending wave acoustic impedance approach. The limitation of the latter is discussed. Applications of Lamb waves pertinent to biosensing are also presented.     

Resonance frequencies of piezoelectric plates surrounded by solid and fluid half-spaces

The design of ultrasound transducers, resonators and other piezoelectric devices usually requires the calculation of the resonance frequencies of piezoelectric plates. Recent studies have shown that the resonance frequencies for plates in vacuum correspond to frequencies where the waveguide group velocity vanishes (zero-group-velocity points). However, those studies are limited to vacuum boundary conditions. The objective of the present study is to analyze the resonance frequencies of layered piezoelectric plates in contact with solid and fluid half-spaces and their relation to the dispersion behavior of the elastic guided wave propagation. Theoretical analysis using partial-wave approach of leaky Lamb waves is performed to study wave propagation in, and resonance behavior of, multilayered plates in contact with solid and fluid half-spaces. A novel observation resulted from this analysis is that, for plates in contact with solid and fluid half-spaces, the resonance frequencies occur at points where the magnitude of the wavenumber reaches a minimum. This frequency is named as a ‘transition frequency’. Such observations are important because they allow an easy identification of resonance frequencies with high amplitude response directly from the dispersion curves. This study will be helpful for the design of piezoelectric components used for resonators and sensors.     

A two-dimensional analysis of surface acoustic waves in finite elastic plates with eigensolutions

It is generally known that surface acoustic waves, or Rayleigh waves, have different mode shapes in infinite plates. To be precise, there are both exponentially decaying and growing components in plates appearing in pairs, representing symmetric and antisymmentric modes in a plate. As the plate thickness increases, the combined modes will approach the Rayleigh mode in a semi-infinite solid, exhibiting surface acoustic wave deformation and velocity. In this study, the two-dimensional theory for surface acoustic waves in finite plates is extended to include the exponentially growing modes in the expansion function. With these extra equations, we study the surface acoustic waves in a plate with different thickness to examine the coupling of the exponentially decaying and growing modes. It is found that for small thickness, the two groups of waves are strongly coupled, showing the significance of including the effect of thickness in analysis. As the thickness increases to certain values, such as more than five wavelengths, the exponentially decaying modes alone will be able to predict vibrations of surface acoustic wave modes accurately, thus simplifying the equations and solutions significantly. Supported by Qianjiang River Fund established by Zhejiang Provincial Government and Ningbo University and administered by Ningbo University and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 10572065)     

Flexural waves on narrow plates

Flexural wave speeds on beams or plates depend upon the bending stiffnesses which differ by the well-known factor (1 - nu2). A quantitative analysis of a plate of finite lateral width displays the plate-to-beam transition, and permits asymptotic analysis that shows the leading order dependence on the width. Orthotropic plates are analyzed using both the Kirchhoff and Kirchhoff-Rayleigh theories, and isotropic plates are considered for Mindlin's theory with and without rotational inertia. A frequency-dependent Young's modulus for beams or strips of finite width is suggested, although the form of the correction to the modulus is not unique and depends on the theory used. The sign of the correction for the Kirchhoff theory is opposite to that for the Mindlin theory. These results indicate that the different plate and beam theories can produce quite distinct behavior. This divergence in predictions is further illustrated by comparison of the speeds for antisymmetric flexural, or torsional, modes on narrow plates. The four classical theories predict limiting wave speeds as the plate width vanishes, but the values are different in each case. The deviations can be understood in terms of torsional waves and how each theory succeeds, or fails, in approximating the effect of torsion. Dispersion equations are also derived, some for the first time, for the flexural edge wave in each of the four "engineering" theories.     

Localized bending vibrations of piezoelectric plates

This paper investigates the existence and propagation of electro-elastic bending waves localized at the free edge of a piezoelectric plate. The problem is considered within the framework of the high-order refined plate theory introduced by Ambartsumian. The condition for existence of a localized bending wave is obtained, and the dispersion equation solved with respect to a dimensionless frequency. It is shown that the piezoelectric effect can increase the attenuation coefficient for a localized wave by up to 70% compared with that for a purely elastic plate, thus significantly decreasing the depth of penetration. The problem is also solved within the classical Kirchhoff theory. A comparison of results is carried out between two theories.     

两侧有固体层负载时板中Lamb波的传播

本文研究了薄板二面有固体导负载时板中Ｌａｍｂ波的传播，从弹性波理论出发并结合应的边界条件，导出板中Ｌａｍｂ波的色散方程，数值计算表示，不管作为自由状态时板中Ｌａｍｂ波相速（板厚取定时）是大于或小于外层固体的声表面波波速，板中对称及反对称模式的Ｌａｍｂ波相速都随着外层固体层厚度增加而变化并且渐近于外层固体的声表面波波速，数值计算又表明，对很薄的板，板中对称及反对称模式的相速均随负载板的厚度呈线性变化     

Elastic constants of a plate from impact-echo resonance and Rayleigh wave velocity

A new method is proposed for calculating the dynamic elastic constants of an isotropic plate from measurements of the impact-echo resonance and Rayleigh wave velocity. Poisson's ratio is shown to be a single-valued function of the ratio between thickness frequency and Rayleigh wave velocity. This dependence is derived theoretically from the condition of resonance at the minimum frequency of the first-order symmetric Lamb mode. A finite element model is developed to determine how this frequency varies with Poisson's ratio. The results obtained by modal analysis and the power-spectral density technique are in good agreement with those calculated as the solution of the S1 Lamb mode equation. The method is verified by impact-echo tests on concrete and methacrylate plates. A laser interferometer is used to detect the vibration. Thickness frequencies are accurately identified by applying the multicross-spectral density to the signals detected at several points close to the impact point. In a separate experiment, Rayleigh waves are generated by the mediator technique. The wave velocities are determined from the arrival times of the surface wave at several points. Finally, the main sources of uncertainty are evaluated.     

Elastic surface waves guided by the edge of a slit

Surface waves propagating along the free surface of a homogeneous, isotropic, linearly elastic half-space, are shown to have the property that the normal displacement component at the free surface is governed by a reduced wave equation. This suggests a “membrane analogy”, and a corresponding family of surface waves. Of particular interest is a three-dimensional surface wave, whose displacement components in the sagittal plane vary linearly with the co-ordinate normal to that plane, while the displacement component in the direction normal to the sagittal plane is uniform in that direction. This new wave arises when surface waves propagate along the free surfaces of a semi-infinite slit, parallel to the edge of the slit, with the classical Rayleigh wave velocity. It is also shown that a semi-infinite slit cannot support surface waves which decay with the distance from the edge of the slit.     

Shear-horizontal waves in a rotated Y-cut quartz plate in contact with a viscous fluid

We study shear-horizontal (SH) waves in a crystal plate of rotated Y-cut quartz in contact with a semi-infinite viscous fluid. The crystal plate and the fluid are governed by the equations of anisotropic elasticity and the theory of Newtonian fluids. A transcendental equation that determines the dispersion relations of the waves is obtained. Approximate analytical solutions to the equation are presented for the case of low viscosity fluids and the case of long waves whose wavelength is much larger than the plate thickness. The effects of the fluid viscosity and density on the dispersion relations of the waves are examined. The results obtained are fundamental and useful to the understanding and design of acoustic wave fluid sensors for measuring fluid viscosity or density.     

Circumferential thermoelastic waves in orthotropic cylindrical curved plates without energy dissipation

In this article, the propagation of guided thermoelastic waves in the circumferential direction of orthotropic cylindrical curved plates subjected to stress-free, isothermal boundary conditions is investigated in the context of the Green-Naghdi (GN) generalized thermoelastic theory (without energy dissipation). The coupled wave equations and heat conduction equation are solved by the Legendre orthogonal polynomial series expansion approach. The convergency of the method is discussed through a numerical example. The dispersion curves of thermal modes and elastic modes are illustrated simultaneously. Dispersion curves of the corresponding pure elastic cylindrical plate are also shown to analyze the influence of the thermoelasticity on elastic modes. The displacement, temperature and stress distributions are shown to discuss the differences between the elastic modes and thermal modes. A thermoelastic cylindrical plate with a different ratio of radius to thickness is considered to discuss the influence of the ratio on the characteristics of circumferential thermoelastic waves.     

Lamb waves in anisotropic plates (review)

Propagation of Lamb waves in elastic anisotropic plates is studied in the framework of the six-dimensional Cauchy formalism. Closed-form secular equations for dispersion curves for Lamb waves propagating in a plate with arbitrary elastic anisotropy are obtained.