STRIP ELEMENT METHOD FOR CHARACTERIZATION OF FLAWS IN SANDWICH PLATES

The strip element method (SEM) is extended to investigate wave scattering by rectangular flaws in sandwich plates. Scattered wave fields in the frequency domain for sandwich plates with rectangular flaws are computed and investigated in comparison with results for corresponding plates without flaws. A technique for determining the length and the damage factor of a rectangular flaw ill a sandwich plate is presented. In this technique, a distributed harmonic load is scanned along the surface of the plate. Responses of the plate at the central point of the load are computed by using the SEM, and a scanning curve is obtained. The image of the flaw can be observed from the scanning curve. Numerical experiments are conducted to demonstrate this technique.