Numerical Simulation of the Lamb Wave Propagation in Impacted CFRP Laminate

Among Non-Destructive Testing, guided ultrasonic Lamb waves are particularly suitable for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) applications for composite structures because of their sensitivity to damage. This paper presents a numerical simulation technique for guided waves propagation in damaged composite laminates by using the finite element code Abaqus®. The damage modeling has been achieved by lowering the elastic material properties of the area affected by damages. Lamb waves propagation have been performed on both undamaged and damaged laminate, in order to investigate the detection criteria. In particular, the influence of different parameters such as the shape, size and extend of damage on the damage reflected wave has been studied.