Ultrasonic waves in layered anisotropic media: characterization of multidirectional composites

An efficient and stable recursive compliance/stiffness matrix algorithm is presented to model wave propagation in multidirectional composites. The models are applied to clarify angle beam transmission through a multidirectional composite and to process ultrasonic data for determination of the elastic properties of a composite lamina (single ply) from measurements on a multidirectional composite. Ultrasonic characterization of composites using double-through-transmission and time-resolved line focus acoustic microscopy has been addressed. The double-through-transmission measurements and simulations show that the transmission amplitude is highly dependent on ply orientation and angle of incidence. The transmission amplitude decreases rapidly with incident angle deviation from the normal; however, a transmission window is found in the incident angle range 45-60degrees at frequencies below 2.25 MHz. The time-delay measurements by the double-through-transmission technique have been used to reconstruct lamina properties using the Floquet wave concept. A unidirectional lamina elastic properties measurement using line focus acoustic microscopy of a multidirectional composite sample is also briefly discussed. The effective elastic properties for the composites are determined from the lamina properties by a Floquet wave dynamic homogenization method. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.