Scattering analysis of nonlinear Lamb waves at delaminations in composite laminates

This study investigates the higher harmonic generation of the Lamb wave at a delamination due to contact acoustic nonlinearity, which is a clapping phenomenon between sublaminate surfaces due to the Lamb wave interaction with the delamination. In this study, higher harmonics of the Lamb wave induced at the delamination in composite laminates are studied in detail. This study performs both numerical and experimental studies. A three-dimensional finite element model is proposed for predicting the propagation of nonlinear Lamb waves in composite laminates and is verified using experimentally measured data. The results show the proposed numerical model can reasonably predict higher harmonic generated by contact acoustic nonlinearity. It is found that the delamination is the major source of contact acoustic nonlinearity in the composite laminates. A mode conversion study is also carried out to gain further physical insight into the higher harmonic generation of the Lamb wave at the delamination.