Wave propagation in mechanical waveguide with curved members using wave finite element solution

In this paper, wave propagation in straight and curved mechanical waveguide is investigated. The main objective of the study is to develop a numerical model that can determine the response of the intact or damaged waveguide structure which is subjected to the incident waves. The wave finite element method, which is based on the simple development of standard finite element procedures, is used for the extraction of eigenmodes and analysis of the wave propagation properties. To make an effective use of those eigenmodes, a criterion that is based on the properties of eigensolutions is proposed to condense the mode bases. By using the reduced eigenmode bases, the high frequency wave motion due to the presence of curved part in the waveguide is examined through the wave propagation approach. Numerical analysis indicates that, in order to choose the appropriate wave modes for inspection, it is necessary to obtain both the eigenmode and wave propagation properties, thus the incident wave could be optimised for better monitoring of the structural features and detection of the local damages. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.