Plate Wave Propagation in Transversely Isotropic Materials

In this work, the modes of plate wave propagation in a fiber reinforced com posite (assumed to be transversely isotropic) were investigated. The waves were modeled as harmonic plane waves propagating in the plane of an infinite plate whose bounding sur faces were assumed to be stress free. A numerical analysis procedure was developed to calculate the dispersion relationships for plate waves propagating in arbitrary directions in the plate. Particle displacements and stress distributions were calculated for several im portant propagation modes. Possible applications to nondestructive testing of composites are discussed.