Elastic constants measurement of anisotropic Olivier wood plates using air-coupled transducers generated Lamb wave and ultrasonic bulk wave

A hybrid elastic wave method is applied to determine the anisotropic constants of Olive wood specimen considered as an orthotropic solid. The method is based on the measurements of the Lamb wave velocities as well as the bulk ultrasonic wave velocities. Electrostatic, air-coupled, ultrasonic transducers are used to generate and receive Lamb waves which are sensitive to material properties. The variation of phase velocity with frequency is measured for several modes propagating parallel and normal to the fiber direction along a thin Olivier wood plates. A numerical model based mainly on an optimization method is developed; it permits to recover seven out of nine elastic constants with an uncertainty of about 15%. The remaining two elastic constants are then obtained from bulk wave measurements. The experimental Lamb phase velocities are in good agreement with the calculated dispersion curves. The evaluation of Olive wood elastic properties has been performed in the low frequency range where the Lamb length wave is large in comparison with the heterogeneity extent. Within the interval errors, the obtained elastic tensor doesn't reveal a large deviation from a uniaxial symmetry. (C) 2009 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.