Study of guided wave propagation on a plate between two solid bodies with imperfect contact conditions

In this work, fundamental symmetric Lamb wave S0 mode is characterized in terms of its velocity variation as function of the interfacial conditions between solid bodies in contact. Imperfect contact conditions are numerically and experimentally determined by using ultrasonic Lamb wave propagation parameters. For the study, an experimental system was used, formed by two solid aluminum rods (25.4 mm in diameter) axially loading a thin aluminum plate to control contact interfacial stiffness. The axially applied load on the aluminum plate was varied from 0 MPa to 10 MPa. Experimental Lamb wave signals were excited on the plate through two longitudinal contact transducers (1 MHz of central frequency) using a pitch-catch configuration. Numerical simulations of contact conditions and Lamb wave propagation were performed through Finite Element Analysis (FEA) in commercial software, ANSYS 15®. Simulated Lamb wave signals were generated by means of a 5 cycles tone burst signals with different frequency values. Results indicate a velocity change in both, experimental and simulated Lamb wave signals as function of the applied load. Finally, a comparison between numerical results and experimental measurements was performed obtaining a good agreement.