Composite Structures 228 (2019) 111319

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Composite Structures
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/compstruct

Modeling guided wave propagation in multi-layered anisotropic composite T

laminates by state-vector formalism and the Legendre polynomials
⁎
Jie Gaoa, Yan Lyua, , Mingfang Zhengb, Mingkun Liua, Hongye Liuc, Bin Wua, Cunfu Hea
a
College of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Electronics Technology, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, China
b
School of Environment and Civil Engineering, Dongguan University of Technology, Dongguan 523808, China
c
School of Optical-Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Jungong Road 580, Shanghai 200093, China

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: This research presents a numerical method to analyze the propagation characteristics of guided waves in multi-
Legendre orthogonal polynomials layered anisotropic composite laminates. The dispersion equations were derived theoretically, while the dis-
Guided waves placement and stress components of each layer are expressed in the form of state vectors, by combining the state-
Anisotropic composite laminates vector formalism and the Legendre polynomials (SVF-LP). The displacement fields are fitted approximately by
Dispersion curves
Legendre polynomials, and the system of linear equations are constructed by the orthogonal projection. The
Displacement and stress profiles
eigenvalue/eigenvector solution is established to compute the phase dispersion curves instead of solving the
transcendental dispersion equations. This overcomes the problem of missing roots in traditional matrix method
effectively. In order to verify the robustness of the SVF-LP, three cases of multi-layered laminates, formed by
isotropic material, unidirectional carbon-fiber epoxy prepreg and fiber-metal laminate (GLARE 3-3/2) are in-
vestigated, respectively. The influences of fiber angle change and the stacking sequence are primarily analyzed,
on the dispersion characteristics and the displacement and stress profiles. The matrix method is also carried out
to compare the accuracy of this proposed method, which is done by the commercial software Disperse. Finally,
the displacement and stress profiles of fundamental modes of the guided waves in an arbitrary lay-up quasi-
isotropic plate at a given frequency is discussed in details.

1. Introduction will make the study of propagation characteristics of guided waves in

The multi-layered composite laminates attracts extensive attention
in advanced industries, due to the excellent material properties, such as
the high strength and outstanding designability features, etc. However,
delamination is one of the most potentially dangerous defects in com-
posite laminates, which significantly reduces its stiffness and strength.
Different techniques have been developed to ensure the safety and to
improve the service life of the multi-layered composite laminates [1–3].
Guided waves demonstrated great potential for delamination defects
detection, which makes ultrasonic guided wave very suitable for the
comprehensive characterization of composite laminates. As a highly
efficient nondestructive testing method, ultrasonic guided waves can be
applied to build a global modeling of multi-layered structures. This will
set a guideline for the optimization of wave propagation parameters
and the examination of the composite laminates subsequently. When
the waves propagate in the multi-layered composite laminates, the in-
teraction of waves depends on the properties of composition, geometry,
propagating direction, frequency and interface conditions, in which it
laminated plates very complicated [4]. Hence, the purpose of this re-
search is to develop an effective analytical method for the numerical
analysis of propagation characteristics and displacement, stress profiles
of laminated plates.
In the last decades, many pioneers had thoroughly studied guided
wave propagations. Among them, matrix methods are the most popular
one to obtain the dispersion curves of ultrasonic guided waves in
layered media. Such as transfer matrix method (TMM) [5,6] and global
matrix method (GMM) [7], they are based on the determinant of their
characteristic matrix, when the boundary conditions are satisfied. But
still it’s an approximate solution by root-finding algorithm for the
transcendental equation. Lowe [8] presented the full derivation of
Lamb wave equations for multi-layered media based on the matrix
method in detail, and developed a computing program named Disperse
[9], which can generate the dispersion curves in multi-layered aniso-
tropic laminates using the global matrix approach. Later on, based on
the stiffness matrix method, Kamal and Giurgiutiu [10] developed
Stiffness Transfer Matrix Method to analyze wave propagation in

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: lvyan@bjut.edu.cn (Y. Lyu).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2019.111319
Received 30 January 2019; Received in revised form 21 June 2019; Accepted 16 August 2019
Available online 28 August 2019
0263-8223/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
J. Gao, et al. Composite Structures 228 (2019) 111319

orthotropic unidirectional fiber composites and cross ply composites,

which is a stable robust algorithm than transfer matrix method. Like-
wise, Equivalent Matrix Method (EMM) is also a very quick and effec-
tive approach for analyzing cross ply laminates, Thomas [11] used it to
describe the propagation of Lamb wave for orthotropic homogeneous
material and cross-ply laminate, respectively. In addition, delta matrix
method [12], scattering matrix method [13], green matrix method [14]
have been also developed to analyze the propagation characteristics of
guided waves in the laminated plates. Then, Pant [15] developed the n-
layered anisotropic composite laminate theory by using the partial
wave technique in combination with the Global Matrix approach, which
was verified experimentally by analyzing the propagation of Lamb
wave in unidirectional carbon-fiber epoxy prepreg and fiber-metal la-
minate (GLARE 3-3/4) [16]. Ma [17] built the dispersion equation of
guided waves in composite laminates with arbitrary lay-up by the re-
verberation-ray matrix method in three-dimensional Cartesian co-
ordinates, and obtained the dispersion curves by using slope control Fig. 1. The Global and local coordinate system for multilayer anisotropic plate.
method. However, with the increase of frequency-thickness product,
matrix method will fall into the local minimum, and lead to the problem
constructed from different layering sequence, displacement and stress
such as the instability of numerical solutions. And the global matrix
profiles of the fundamental Lamb wave modes (S0 and A0) are also il-
method is difficult to accurately describe the acoustic propagation
lustrated. The influence of propagation direction on the phase velocity
characteristics caused by missing roots, and apparent crossings between
of Lamb waves for anisotropic laminates are discussed subsequently.
adjacent branches, especially in complicated anisotropic materials [18].
In order to avoid the computation error of the exponential term in
2. Problem statement and theoretical derivation
the matrix method, many researchers introduced the form of approx-
imate or asymptotic solution to analyze the propagation characteristics
Consider a plate model, consisting of R layers by anisotropic
of ultrasonic guided waves in the multi-layered composite laminates.
monolayer plate, stacked normally to the x2 axis in global coordinate
Lefebvre [19] developed the Legendre orthogonal polynomial method
system (x1, x2, x3), as illustrated in Fig. 1, the total thickness is h, and
(LOPM) to acquire the dispersion curves. The key aspect of this ap-
each layer is parallel to the x1-x3 plane. In order to describe the relative
proach is assumed that the form of solution is expressed by orthonormal
orientation of the layers precisely, we annotate k to represent the se-
basis for the expansion of the displacement field quantities. This
quence, k = 1, 2,… R. Then, assign k into the local coordinate system
method can compute the wave problem in multi-layered structures
(x1k , x 2k , x 3k ) , where its origin is located in the bottom of the kth layer.
without solving any transcendental equation. Then, the mathematical k
Meanwhile, it can be characterized by the elastic constants cijgl and the
problem can be transformed into an eigenvalue/eigenvector solution.
mass density ρk. Equivalently, the multi-layered anisotropic composite
Additionally, LOPM has been extended furtherly to investigate the be-
laminates in general are made up of individual lamina stacked together
havior of wave propagation in more complex laminated structures, such with different directions. The rotation angle θk between x1k and x1 is
as anisotropic composite laminates [20], piezoelectric-semiconductor defined as the orientation of the kth layer in the global coordinate
sandwich plates of GaAs-FGPM-AlAs [21], non-homogeneous magneto- system, whose elastic constants matrix can be obtained by the fol-
electro-elastic plates [22], viscoelastic materials [23], functionally lowing:
graded piezoelectric rings with rectangular cross-sections [24], etc.
k k
Generally speaking, the traditional LOPM can obtain the effective re- Cabvw = Tai Tbj Tvg Twl Cijgl (a, b, v, w = 1, 2, 3) (1)
sults when mathematical convergence is achieved, but it is significant
where the T are the transformation matrixes:
to raise the cut-off order to overcome the difficulty of mode con-
vergence when the product of frequency and thickness goes high.
⎡ cos < x1′, x1 > cos < x1′, x2 > cos < x1′, x3 >⎤
However, the scale of the integral operations will become larger, which Tijk = ⎢ cos < x 2′, x1 > cos < x 2′, x2 > cos < x 2′, x3 >⎥
leads to a dramatical increase of calculation time. In addition to the ⎢ ⎥
above methods, finite element method (FEM) [25] and semi-analytical ⎣ cos < x 3′, x1 > cos < x 3′, x2 > cos < x 3′, x3 >⎦ (2)
finite element method (SAFEM) [26] are also commonly used in the Based on the assumption of free body force and small deformation,
study of guided wave propagation in laminated structures, but their the wave equation, strain displacement relationship and constitutive
complexity lies in the precision of the finite element grid, which re- equations of the kth layer can be expressed as:
quires expensive computing resources. In the above literatures, al-
though scholars established different theoretical models to investigate σijk, j = ρu¨ ik i, j ∈ {1, 2, 3} (3)
the dispersion characteristics of multi-layered composite laminates,
more reliable and robust approaches are still needed to enhance the εglk = 1/2(ugk, l + ulk, g ) g , l ∈ {1, 2, 3} (4)
accuracy and efficiency in analyzing the complicated propagation of
σijk = Cijgl
k k
εgl i, j, g , l ∈ {1, 2, 3} (5)
guided waves.
Herein, this research develops the theoretical framework of the where σ , ∊ , ρ , u are the stress, strain, density and displacement
k k k k

state-vector formalism and the Legendre polynomial method (SVF-LP). component, respectively.
The full derivation of guided wave propagation characteristic in the Subsequently, without any loss, we shall assume that the guided
multi-layered composite laminates is described in details. It can be waves propagate in the x1–x3 plane. To simplify the displacement and
observed that the differential wave equation of guided waves can be stress components by using the state vector, the equation can be written
turned into algebraic eigenvalue problem. Subsequently, the dispersion in the following form:
curves of an isotropic multilayer plate, a unidirectional carbon-fiber
k
epoxy prepreg and fiber-metal laminate (GLARE 3-3/2) are calculated. uk = [u1k u 2k u3k ] e−j (ζx1 − ωt )
The theoretical results will be compared with the ones obtained by k
τik = ⎡ σik1 σik2 σik3 ⎤ e−j (ζx1 − ωt ) (6)
GMM. Moreover, as for the quasi-isotropic composite laminates ⎣ ⎦

2
J. Gao, et al. Composite Structures 228 (2019) 111319

where the ζ is wave number, ω is angular frequency. τ1k = −jξ ·ζ 0 [D11

k k
] uk + [D12 ]
∂uk
∂x2k
Substituting Eq. (6) into Eq. (3), omitting the harmonic factor
k ∂uk
e−j (ζx1 − ωt ) , the new form of the vectorized displacement and stress in the τ2k = −jξ ·ζ 0 [D21
k k
] uk + [D22 ] .
∂x2k
governing equation can be rewritten as: k
k ∂u
τ3k = −jξ ·ζ 0 [D31
k
] uk + [D32 ] k
∂τ2k ∂τ k ∂τ k ∂x2 (15)
k
= −ρ k ω2 [I ] uk − 1k − 3k
∂x 2 ∂x1 ∂x 3 (7) In order to obtain the solution of the dispersion equation of Eq. (14),
similarly, the general constitutive relations can be shown by: the displacement components of each layer are expanded by Legendre
orthogonal polynomial series. Therefore, the displacement uk can be
∂ ∂ ∂
τ1k = k
[D11 ] uk + k
[D12 ] uk + k
[D13 ] uk expressed as follows:
∂x1k ∂x2k ∂x3k
∂ ∂ ∂ N k −1
τ2k = k
[D21 ] uk + k
[D22 ] uk + k
[D23 ] uk
∂x1k ∂x2k ∂x3k κnk, l Pn (χ ) (l = 1, 2, 3),
uk = ∑
τ3k =
∂ k
[D31 ] uk +
∂ k
[D32 ] uk +
∂ k
[D33 ] uk n=0 (16)
∂x1k ∂x2k ∂x3k (8)
where κnk, l are the displacement quantities and Pn(χ) is (Unk , Vnk , Wnk ) ,
where [Dijk ](i, j = 1, 2, 3) are the elastic constants matrix of kth layer. the nth Legendre polynomial, N is the cut-off order of Legendre poly-
Then we transform stress into the expression of displacement compo- nomial series. As is known, the definition domain of Legendre poly-
nents in x2 direction: nomials is [−1, 1]. So it is necessary to normalize the subdomains
[x 2k , x 2k + 1] by
∂ k k −1 ⎛ k ∂ ∂
u = [D22 ] ⎜τ2 − k
[D21 ] uk − k
[D23 ] uk ⎞⎟
∂x 2k ⎝ ∂x 1
k
∂x 3
k
⎠ (9) χ k = ℓk (x 2k − x 2k′), (17)
Then, substituting Eq. (9) into the stress-displacement relation in x1 where,
and x3 direction, respectively. At present, in order to simplify the
(x 2k + x 2k + 1 )
function of τ2 and u, we introduce the state vector ℓk = 2 h k , x 2k′ = , hk = x 2k + 1 − x 2k
k ]T . Equivalently, the general solution can 2 (18)
ηk = [u1k u 2k u3k σ21
k k
σ22 σ23
k ∂uk ∂2uk
be defined as ηk = ηk e−j (ζx1 − ωt ) .
Then, we can assume that the governing Meanwhile, the expression of and are the first and second
∂x2k ∂x2k 2
differential equations are of the form that connected with the dis- order partial differential forms of displacement components, respec-
placement and stress quantities, which can be given by: tively. It is not difficult to utilize the recurrence property of Legendre
∂ηk (x2 ) polynomial series to establish a progressive relation between the new
= A¯ k (ω, ζ ) ηk (x2) amplitude quantities am, bm and displacement quantities κnk, l , which can
∂x2 (10)
be expressed as:
where
N k −2
∂uk ∂uk
k
⎡ A¯11
k
A¯12 ⎤ ∂x2
=ℓ
∂χ
=ℓ ∑ am Pn (χ )
A¯ k (ω, ζ ) = , n=0 (19)
⎢ A¯ k A¯22 ⎥
k
⎣ 21 ⎦
N k −3
k
A¯11 k −1
= jζ [D22 k
] [D21 ] ∂2uk ∂2uk
= ℓ2 2 = (ℓk )2 ∑ bm Pn (χ )
¯ k k −1
A12 = [D22] ∂x 22 ∂χ n=0 (20)
k k k −1 k k
A¯21 = −ρ k ω2 [I ] − ζ 2 [[D12 ][D22 ] [D21] − [D11 ]] where,
k k k
A¯22 = jζ [D12 ][D22]−1 (11) N k −1

Substituting the derivatives of the second equation in Eqs. (8)–(10), am = (2m + 1) ∑ κnk, l
n = m + 1, m + 3, ⋯
we can yield the dispersion equation: n + m is odd (21)
∂uk ∂2uk
ζ 2E1k uk + jζE2k k
+ E3k uk + E4k k 2 = 0, 2m + 1
N k −1
∂x 2 ∂x 2 (12) bm = ⎛ ⎞ ∑ [n (n + 1) − m (m + 1)] κnk, l
⎝ 2 ⎠ n = m + 2, m + 4, ⋯
where n + m is even (22)

E1k = k
[D11 ] Substituting Eqs. (19)–(22) into Eq. (14), then multiplying by Pm(χ)
E2k = [D12
k k
] + [D21 ] on both sides of the equation and integral over χ from −1 to 1, the
linear system of equations of kth layer can be written as:
E3k = −ρ k ω2 [I ]
Ek
E4k = −[D22
k
] (13) N −1 1
ξ 2 C1 ∑n = 0 κnk, l ∫−1 Pn (χ ) Pm (χ ) dχ
0

Usually, the determinant of the characteristic coefficient matrix E2k N −2 ⎡ k ⎤ 1

approaches zero when solving the Eq. (12) by Matrix method, which + jξ ζ ℓ ∑n = 0 ⎢ (2m + 1) ∑Nn =−m1+ 1, κnk, l ⎥ ∫−1 Pn (χ ) Pm (χ ) dχ
0 C0
will induce missing roots easily. The state-vector formalism and the ⎣ m + 3, ⋯ ⎦
Legendre polynomial method (SVF-LP), as an alternative way to draw ρk N −1 1
+ ρ0
∑n = 0 κnk, l ∫−1 Pn (χ ) Pm (χ ) dχ
the dispersion curves, can improve the convergence rate by submitting
E4k N k −1
the normalized stiffness C0, density ρ0 and wave number ζ 0 = ω ρ0 / C0 +
N
ℓ2 ∑n = 0 ⎡
−3
( 2m + 1
)∑ (n (n + 1)
ζ02 C0 ⎣ 2 n = m + 2, m + 4, ⋯
into Eq. (12). Then, the following equations were obtained:
1
E k uk E k ∂uk ρ k uk E k ∂2uk −m (m + 1)) κnk, l ⎤ ∫−1 Pn (χ ) Pm (χ ) dχ = 0 .
ξ2 1 + jξ 2 + + 24 = 0, ⎦ (23)
C0 ζ 0 C0 ∂x 2k ρ0 ζ 0 C0 ∂x 2k 2 (14)
In order to solve the dispersion equation of each layer accurately, it
where ξ = ζ / ζ 0 are the relative wave number, it lays a strong foundation is necessary that the displacement components are expanded by
for the fast extraction of eigenvalues and eigenvectors in the next step. Legendre polynomial to an infinity number of terms. In practice, the
And the stress components of kth layer can be expressed as: convergence of the general solution can be realized by a proper cut-off

3
J. Gao, et al. Composite Structures 228 (2019) 111319

term N. The higher order terms can be neglected effectively. Hence, Table 1
when M = N, displacement quantities can be summarized as Mechanical properties of materials used.
[U1N , U2N , U3N ]T3 × N . But still there are twice partial differential operation Materials ρ (kg/m3) C11 (GPa) C12 (GPa) C44 (GPa)
in Eq. (23), and the effective range index n and m are [0, N-1], [0, N-3],
respectively. Then we can merely obtain 3(N-2) × R equations from Eq. Aluminum 2024 [20] 2700 107.8 54.94 26.45
(23), which can not sufficiently determine the solution of the 3 N × R Steel [18] 7900 281.72 131.12 84.298
displacement quantities κnk, l . This indicates that the continuous
boundary conditions of stress and displacement at the interfaces be-
3. Numerical analysis
tween layers, and the free boundary conditions at the upper and lower
surfaces should be taken into consideration, which would provide the
3.1. Guided waves in multi-layered laminates
remaining 6R equations:

boundary conditions Based on the above formulation, a relevant computational programs

have been developed in MATLAB, permitting to calculate the dispersion
at free surfaces
curves of guided waves in multi-layered anisotropic composite lami-
R
[D ] n (n + 1)
⎧ ∑NR ⎛−jξ [D21
R
] + ζ22 h ⎞ κnR, l = 0 (upper ) nates. In order to check the validity and robustness of the programs,
⎪ n=0 ⎝ 0 k ⎠ case studies on different types of materials, as isotropic laminates plates
⎪

⎪
N1
( n k+1
⎨ ∑n = 0 −(−1) jξ [D21 ] +
[D22 ]k + 1
ζ0
n (n + 1)
(−1)n + 1 h
k+1
κn1, l ) (Aluminum/Steel/Aluminum/Steel), quasi-isotropic composite lami-
nates (constructed out of unidirectional carbon-fiber epoxy prepreg)
⎪ =0 (lower ) and fiber-metal laminate (GLARE 3-3/2), were illustrated, respectively.
⎩
N −1 k N −1 k+1 k+1 The calculated results of these three cases by the state-vector formalism
⎧ ∑n = 0 κnk, l Pn (χ ) − ∑n = 0 κn, l Pn (χ )
⎪ and the Legendre polynomial method (SVF-LP) are displayed for com-
⎪ =0 (Displacement ) parison with available results obtained from the commercial software
⎪ Disperse, which is based on GMM method.
k N k −1 k
⎪ −jξ [D21 ] ∑n = 0 κn, l Pn (1)
boundary conditions ⎪ Firstly, we deal with an example of isotropic materials with large
k ℓ
k N k − 1 k dPn (χ )
at interfaces ⎨ + [D22 ] ζ0 ∑n = 0 κn, l dχ (Stress ) difference in acoustical characteristics. The four layers of the laminate
χ =1
⎪ are of identical thickness of 1 mm with the layering sequence of
⎪ + jξ [D k + 1 ] ∑N k + 1− 1 κ k P (−1) [Aluminum/Steel/Aluminum/Steel], whose mechanical properties are
⎪ 21 n=0 n, l n
⎪ k+1 ℓ
k+1 N k + 1− 1 k dPn (χ ) collected in Table 1. The relationship of frequency and phase velocity
⎪ − [D22 ] ζ0 ∑n = 0 κ n, l
dχ χ =−1
=0 displays in Fig. 2, when the cut-off order N of Legendre polynomial
⎩
series equals 20. Conventionally, the symmetric, anti-symmetric Lamb
(24)
wave modes and shear horizontal modes can be denoted by Sn, An and
Combining Eqs. (23) and (24), we will generalize SHn (n = 0, 1, 2…), respectively. In order to clearly distinguish each
mode, the isotropic laminates are selected. We sort the modes and re-
k
ξ 2R¯3kN × 3N Ω3kN × 1 + jξS¯3N × 3N Ω3kN × 1 + T¯3kN × 3N Ω3kN × 1 = 0 draw it by separate colors and line types, as shown in Fig. 2. Obviously,
(25)
the Fig. 2 shows the anti-symmetric modes (blue lines), symmetric
by rearranging the displacement quantities to the column vector modes (red lines) and SH modes (black dotted lines), and detailed re-
Ω3KN = [κ1,k l, ⋯, κNk , l ]3N × 1 (l = 1, 2, 3) . Then, summarizing the index su- gions (region A&B) in Fig. 2 clearly illustrates the crossing behavior of
perscript k∊(0, R), it would realize the construction of linear equations the branches in its adjacent area. It shows that our approach still can
in global system, as: distinguish each mode effectively. Apparently, they both match well to
each other in low and high frequency regions.
ξ 2R¯ k Ω R k + jξS¯ k Then, the proposed method was further applied to multi-layered
R R R R
3∑ N ×3 ∑ N 3∑ N ×1 3∑ N ×3 ∑ N anisotropic composite laminates, which was constructed out of uni-
k=1 k=1 k=1 k=1 k=1

Ωk + T¯ k Ω R k =0 directional carbon-fiber epoxy prepreg (T300/914), commonly used in

R R R
3∑ N ×1 3∑ N ×3 ∑ N 3∑ N ×1 (26) aerospace industry. To investigate the effect of fiber orientation and
k=1 k=1 k=1 k=1

layer number on dispersion curves, three cases of composite laminates

In order to solve the equations efficiently, Eq. (26) can be compactly are computed with different layer sequences when the truncated order
expressed as: N is equal to 20. The stacking sequence is [(45°/−45°/90°/0°)], [(45°/
−45°/90°/0°)s], [(45°/−45°/90°/0°)s]2, respectively. The thickness of
⎛⎡ 0 T¯3 ∑R N × 3 ∑R N ⎤ each layer is 0.25 mm. Thus, the total thickness of the corresponding
k=1 k=1
⎜⎜ ⎢T¯ R R jS¯3 ∑R N × 3 ∑R N ⎥ example is 1 mm, 2 mm, 4 mm, respectively. The material properties of
⎢ 3 ∑ N × 3 ∑ N k=1 ⎥
⎝⎣ k=1 k=1 k=1 ⎦ the fiber orientation at 0° are listed in Table 2. The performance
¯ parameters of other layers at different fiber orientation angles can be
⎡T3 ∑kR= 1 N × 3 ∑kR= 1 N 0 ⎤⎞
− ξ⎢ obtained via Eqs. (1) and (2).
0 ¯3 ∑R N × 3 ∑R N ⎥ ⎟⎟
R
⎢
⎣ k=1 k=1 ⎥
⎦⎠ Fig. 3a–c show the phase velocity dispersion curves for guided
Ω R waves propagating in quasi-isotropic laminated plates (R = 4, 8, 16
⎡ 3 ∑ k=1 N × 1 ⎤
⎢ jξR¯ k ⎥=0 layers). They agree well between the results of SVF-LP and those from
k
⎢ 3 ∑kR= 1 N × 3 ∑kR= 1 N Ω3 ∑kR= 1 N × 1⎥ (27) Global matrix method (GMM). Obviously, there still exist three funda-
⎣ ⎦
mental modes: S0, A0, SH0. However, GMM shows a serious missing root
Eigenvalues ξ of Eq. (27) yield the guided wave velocities, and ei- phenomenon in the high frequency range as the number of layers in-
genvectors Ω enable the field profiles. Then, we can obtain the dis- creases. It’s difficult to illustrate the corresponding modes completely
persion curves of guided waves propagation in multi-layered aniso- (see Fig. 3c). The main reason is that the phase velocity of these higher
tropic plates. The displacement and stress profiles would be determined order modes gradually approach the body wave velocity, which results
at a given frequency simultaneously. in singularity in the solutions of the determinant of the characteristic
coefficient matrix. Although the accuracy of the global matrix method
can be improved by adjusting the root tracing step, it’s still hard to draw

4
J. Gao, et al. Composite Structures 228 (2019) 111319

Fig. 2. The dispersion curves for isotropic laminates plates: SVF-LP (line) and GMM (red dot).

Table 2 orientation, etc [27]. In this case, the GLARE consisted of layers of
The material properties of composite laminate (T300/914) [20]. aluminum, having a nominal thickness of 0.3 mm, and prepregs of S2-
C11 (GPa) C12 (GPa) C13 (GPa) C22 (GPa) C23 (GPa)
glass fibers embedded with FM94 adhesive, having an approximate
143.8 6.2 6.2 13.3 6.5 thickness of 0.125 mm. The stacking sequence is [Al/0°/90°/Al/0°/90°/
Al], so the total thickness of the GLARE laminates is 1.4 mm. The me-
C33 (GPa) C44 (GPa) C55 (GPa) C66 (GPa) ρ (kg/m3)
13.3 3.6 5.7 5.7 1560 chanical properties of S2/FM94 are provided in Table 3.
As shown in Fig. 4, it can be observed that the results of the SVF-LP
(N = 20) agree well with GMM. With the increase of frequency, the A0
the whole picture entirely. It can be seen clearly from Fig. 3(a–c) that and S0 modes will approach the velocity of Rayleigh waves, and the SH0
the proposed method can effectively solve the missing root problem. mode presents slight dispersion phenomenon. If we zoom in toward
Also, the propagation characteristics of a fiber-metal laminate area A and B in Fig. 4, the mode tracing near 1 MHz and 1.75 MHz will
(GLARE 3-2/3) were investigated, in which the laminate was con- prove that the SVF-LP is more stable and reliable. As shown in the detail
structed out of aluminum and S2/FM94 prepreg. Generally speaking, area A in Fig. 4, the blue lines cross between adjacent branches by
GLARE laminates offer a unique combination of properties, isotropic GMM; meanwhile, in the detail area B in Fig. 4, it clearly illustrates the
and transversely isotropic. The special stacking type determines the hyperbolic behavior between the adjacent modes. By comparison, it’s
mechanical behavior that not only different from the previous compo- worth noting that the GMM shows mode tracing error when the lami-
site materials, but also different from the traditional metal materials. nate is complicated, while the mode intersection can be avoided by the
Moreover, GLARE laminates can be tailored to suit a wide variety of proposed SVF-LP method, which serves as a further validation of our
environmental conditions by varying the stacking sequence, fiber approach.

Fig. 3. Dispersion curves in multi-layered anisotropic composite laminates with different layers.

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J. Gao, et al. Composite Structures 228 (2019) 111319

Table 3
Mechanical properties of S2/FM94 [28].
E11 (GPa) E22 (GPa) E33 (GPa) G12 (GPa) G23 (GPa)
54 9.4 9.4 5.55 3 (R = 16) at f = 500 kHz.
G13 (GPa) v12 (GPa) v23 (GPa) v13 (GPa) ρ (kg/m3)
5.55 0.33 0.0575 0.33 1980
To sum up, the SVF-LP can be used to effectively investigate the
propagation characteristics of guided waves in multi-layered isotropic/
anisotropic composite laminates, which acquires all guided wave modes
precisely and automatically.
3.2. Displacement and stress profile
The displacement and stress profile of guided waves in quasi-iso-
tropic laminated plates (R = 4, 8, 16 layers) are also investigated. The
corresponding eigenvalues ξ and eigenvectors Ω can be obtained by Eq.
(27) at a given frequency. Then, the stress and displacement profiles in
each layer can be calculated by substituting Ω into the Eqs. (15) and
(16), respectively.
The Fig. 5(a–c) show the displacement and stress distributions of the
S0 mode in different layering sequences at f = 500 kHz, and these fig-
ures are displayed in dimensionless axes. Likewise, good agreements
were obtained between the results of SVF-LP and GMM. Hence, the
accuracy of the calculations can be also revealed in the displacement
and stress profiles. Especially, along the thickness direction, the stress
and displacement at the boundary of adjacent layers is continuous when
the SVF-LP is used to calculate the dispersion curves in the quasi-iso-
tropic laminated plates. This is the same as the preset conditions in the
theoretical model in Section 2.
When the traditional GMM was used to calculate dispersion curves
of the foundational modes in quasi-isotropic laminated, it is obvious
that the root findings of A0 mode are more difficult, as shown in
Fig. 3(a–c). Hence, it is laborious to obtain the displacement and stress
distribution of A0 mode at a specific frequency. However, both A0 and
S0 mode are competent during the nondestructive testing and evalua-
tion of composite laminates. Moreover, the A0 mode has gained more
attention due to the lower phase velocity, higher resolution and larger
out-off-plane displacement u22. Thus, the profiles of A0 mode in each
layer can be obtained by the eigenvectors Ω and its corresponding ex-
pansion coefficients. Fig. 6 displays the displacement and stress dis-
tributions of the A0 mode in quasi-isotropic composite laminate
As shown in Fig. 6, the upper and lower boundary of the stress
component is 0, and the out-off-plane displacement u22 plays a domi-
nant role in A0 mode. And it should be noted that the “inflection points”
represent the interfaces between layers.
3.3. The effect of propagation angle on the dispersion characteristic
In different laminates, the dispersion characteristics of different
modes are closely related to the wave propagation direction, which is
necessary during the non-destructive testing and structure health
monitor. To observe further the effect of the propagation direction on
the elastic modes for the 16 layers quasi-isotropic plates, the graph of
the phase velocity is represented in a polar coordinates system, as
shown in Fig. 7. In Fig. 7(a), it can be observed that there are no evident
changes for the S0, A0 and SH0 mode in term of the value of the phase
velocity at 100 kHz and 300 kHz, which exhibit strong isotropic char-
acteristics.
In addition, to illustrate the anisotropy level of the composite ma-
terials, the phase velocity of elastic mode for anisotropic plates ([45/
−45]s T300/914) along different direction are calculated by using the
proposed approach, as shown in Fig. 8. Moreover, the property of se-
lected material along the principal axis is provided in Table 2. Whether
it’s 100 kHz or 300 kHz, for the S0 and SH0 modes, the variation shows
apparent regularity, increasing at first and then decreasing subse-
quently, both of them are symmetric distribution distinctly about the x1
axis and x3 axis, which also maps the symmetrical features of the se-
lected anisotropic laminate significantly. However, as the frequency
increases, the maximum value of phase velocity decreases obviously for
A0 mode. Likewise, it is worth noting that the fluctuation of amplitudes
both the S0 mode and SH0 mode are more significant than that of the A0
mode at relevant low frequencies.
4. Conclusion
In this research, a robust method for describing propagation char-
acteristics of guided waves in multi-layered anisotropic composite

Fig. 4. Dispersion curves of GLARE3-3/2 by SVF-LP and GMM.

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J. Gao, et al. Composite Structures 228 (2019) 111319

Fig. 5. the displacement and stress distributions of the S0 mode in quasi-isotropic composite laminate at 500 kHz, a) R = 4, b) R = 8, c) R = 16.

Fig. 6. the displacement and stress distributions of the A0 mode in quasi-isotropic composite laminate at 500 kHz, R = 16.

laminates is presented. The state-vector formalism and the Legendre
polynomial method (SVF-LP) was used to investigate the dispersion
curves of three different types of materials: layered isotropic laminates
plates (Aluminum/Steel/Aluminum/Steel), quasi-isotropic composite
laminates with different stacking sequence and a 7 layer fiber-metal
laminate (GLARE 3-3/2). Results from SVF-LP coincide with the GMM
(implemented in Disperse), which ensures the availability of the pro-
posed method. Moreover, the SVF-LP method can avoid root-finding
algorithm, especially in the regions where two adjacent modes ap-
proach. The displacement and stress profiles can be yielded

7
J. Gao, et al.
Fig. 7. The effect of propagation direction on the phase velocity distribution for quasi-isotropic.
Fig. 8. The effect of propagation direction on the phase velocity distribution for [45/−45]s.
simultaneously. It demonstrates that the displacement and stress pro-
files of S0 mode in quasi-isotropic composite laminate (R = 4, 8, 16
layers) at f = 500 kHz are consistent well with the results from GMM.
Then, the displacement and stress profiles of A0 mode at a given fre-
quency is given, which provides a new way to obtain the displacement
and stress profiles effectively. It may lay the theoretical foundation for
the further application of guided wave nondestructive testing. And the
next step may focus on more complex structures, such as multi-layered
anisotropic hollow cylinders and functionally graded materials, etc.
Acknowledgment
This research is supported by National Natural Science Foundation
of China (Nos. 11872082, 51505013, 11527801).
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