Structural Health Monitoring: Numerical Simulation of Lamb Waves Via Higher-Order Models

Abstract

This chapter proposes a numerically efficient method to simulate Lamb waves in laminated structures in the framework of structural health monitoring (SHM). Due to the high frequencies involved in Lamb wave problems, time-domain analyses call for very fine spatial and temporal discretizations of the numerical model. As a consequence, standard models based on the finite element method (FEM) might become extremely large, and new efficient simulation tools must be introduced. A series of multi-layered plate elements for the wave propagation problem are proposed. Equivalent single layer (ESL) and layer wise (LW) kinematics based on hierarchical assumptions are tested. Exploiting their superior convergence rates, higher-order polynomials are used as shape functions of the finite elements. Numerical examples of composite plates are included to show the advantages of each model proposed.