Identification of delamination interface in composite laminates using scattering characteristics of lamb wave: Numerical and experimental studies

Considering the superior strength properties of polymer based composites over metallic materials, they are being used in primary structures of aircrafts. However, these polymeric materials are much more complex in behaviour due to their structural anisotropy along with existence of different materials unlike in metallic alloys. These pose challenge in flaw detection, residual strength determination and life of a structure with their high susceptibility to impact damage in the form of delaminations/disbonds or cracks. This reduces load-bearing capability and potentially leads to structural failure. With this background, this study presents a method to identify location of delamination interface along thickness of a laminate. Both numerical and experimental studies have been carried out with a view to identify the defect, on propagation, mode conversion and scattering characteristics of fundamental anti-symmetric Lamb mode (A_o) when it passed through a semi-infinite delamination. Further, the reflection and transmission scattering coefficients based on power and amplitude ratios of the scattered waves have been computed. The methodology was applied on numerically simulated delaminations to illustrate the efficacy of the method. Results showed that it could successfully identify delamination interface.