Modeling laser-generated guided waves in bonded plates by the finite element method.

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this research is to develop an effective model of the transient laser-generated guided waves in bonded plates by the finite element (FE) method. The FE parameters, such as the mesh density and the time step size, which are related to wave propagation, are optimized in order to set up a standard, and the correlation between these parameters is discussed. The waveforms in bonded plates with different bonded interface modeled by the spring model are obtained and then compared. The results show that the transient responses are sensitive to the stiffness coefficients characterizing the cohesive quality. Finally, these FE results are compared with analytical and experimental results. All these comparisons confirm the accuracy of the FE method for modeling laser-generated guided waves in bonded plates.