The Determination of Group Velocity of Lamb Wave So Mode in Composite Plates with Anisotropy

Experimentally measured Lamb wave group velocities in composite materials with anisotropic characteristics are not accorded with the theoretical group velocities as calculated with the Lamb wave dispersion equation. This discrepancy arises from the fact that the angle between the group velocity direction and the phase velocity direction in anisotropic materials exists. Wave propagation in a composite material with anisotropic characteristics should be considered with respect to magnitude in addition to direction. In this study, So mode phase velocity dispersion curves are depicted with the variation of degree with respect to the fiber direction using a Lamb wave dispersion relation in the unidirectional, bidirectional, and quasi-isotropic composite plates. Slowness surface is sketched by the reciprocal value of the phase velocity curves. The magnitude and direction of the group velocity are calculated from the slowness surface. The theoretically determined group velocity, which is calculated from the slowness surface, is compared with experimentally measured group velocities. The proposed method shows good agreements with theoretical and experimental results.