Experimental and theoretical basis of Lamb waves and their applications in material sciences

Abstract

The subject of Lamb waves contains a vast field of literature comprising many individual topics, with the current focus being the effective creation and use of Lamb waves in the fields of material characterization and nondestructive evaluation (NDE). This review chooses to focus on the more recent literature dealing with Lamb waves, giving introductions to a variety of topics. Because of the large amount of literature dealing with Lamb waves, many of the sections of this paper could themselves be expanded into their own literature review. This review begins with a brief introduction of Lamb waves comparing them to the acoustic bulk wave, and Rayleigh wave, and outlines the physics of a guided wave. It discusses the advantages of using guided waves, and theoretical techniques to model Lamb waves. In addition, the review discusses some of the various methods for the detection and creation of Lamb waves; techniques to detect, identify, and extract the mode from the acoustic signal; the use of Lamb waves in material characterization; flaw detection and flaw measurement; and finally examines the scattering of Lamb waves at plate ends and joints. While much of this work is experimentally based in nature, this review has attempted to also include theoretical work when possible. PACS Nos.: 43.90.+v, 81.70.Cv