Avinash Hood

Sizing of Delamination Using Time-of-Flight of the Fundamental Symmetric Lamb Modes

In this study, a procedure is devised, using the fundamental symmetric Lamb mode (So) to estimate the size of an impact-induced delamination at the bottom interface of a composite laminate, which has been subjected to a low-velocity impact. When S o mode incidents at the edge of delamination, it propagates independently in 0° layer and the rest of layers. Based on the propagation of So mode in the delaminated region, an expression is derived, which can estimate the size of interface delamination using measured arrival times or Time-of-Flight (ToF) of So modes. Numerical simulations were carried out on glass/epoxy (GFRP) cross-ply laminates ([0/902] s) to confirm the derived expression and eventually it was validated through experiments carried out on [0/90/0] GFRP laminates. Moreover, the minimum detectable size of delamination through the proposed method was estimated analytically and verified through numerical simulations.

Effect of misalignment of air-coupled probes on Ao Lamb mode propagating in a metal plate.

Proper alignment of air-coupled ultrasonic transducers for generation and reception of Lamb waves is vital in order to acquire a high amplitude wave group. Any misalignment with either the transmitter or the receiver or both adversely influences the amplitude of a Lamb mode. This paper reports a systematic attempt to quantify the reduction in the amplitude of the fundamental anti-symmetric Lamb mode (Ao) in a metal plate caused by misalignments in air-coupled probes. Three different types of misalignments - linear, orientation and synchronised orientation were deliberately introduced in the transducers, and experiments were performed on a 6mm thick aluminium plate. Amplitudes of Ao mode measured at various configurations were normalised with that of Ao mode, captured in a reference configuration. Suitable curves fitted over the experimental data points revealed that Gaussian curves represent appropriately the variations in normalised amplitudes of Ao mode. Moreover, analytical expressions were derived to predict the difference in arrival times of Lamb mode(s) due to orientation and synchronised orientation misalignments.

Ultrasonic Lamb Wave Based Crack Growth Prediction for Estimation of Strain Energy Release Rate

A technique is proposed to predict crack growth for the estimation of Strain Energy Release Rate (SERR) of Double Cantilever Beam (DCB) bi-metallic specimen, employing ultrasonic Lamb waves. Techniques based on the Time-of-Flight (ToF) of the Turning Lamb Mode (TLM) and Direct Lamb Mode (DLM) explored to determine the crack growth. Sensitivity analysis revealed that the Lamb mode with low velocity is more sensitive to crack growth than that of the high velocity Lamb mode.