Elastic Wave Propagation in Laminated Composite Plates

Abstract

A stiffness method and an analytical method have been used to study the dispersion characteristics of guided waves in laminated composite plates. Both cross-ply and angle-ply plates have been considered in the analysis. The objective of the study is to analyze the effect of fiber orientation, ply layout configuration, and number of layers on the dispersion characteristics. A Rayleigh-Ritz type of approximation of the through-thickness variation of the displacements that maintain continuity of displacements and tractions at the interfaces between the layers has been used in the stiffness method. The analytical method solves the exact dispersion relation of the laminated plate by using the Muller’s method with initial guesses obtained through the stiffness method. Both methods are applicable to plates with arbitrary number of layers having distinct mechanical properties. Numerical results presented show strong influence of anisotropy on the guided waves.