Abstract
In order to improve the safety, reliability, and life of diverse structures, the development of effective methodologies for structural health monitoring is critical. Among damage detection techniques, guided ultrasonic Lamb waves are particularly suitable for damage detection applications for plate-like and shell-like structures, such as aircraft wing-box structures, heat exchanger tubing, stiffened panels, and nuclear steam generator tubing, due to their sensitivity to damage. Computational models can play a critical role to study wave propagation for monitoring structural health and develop a technique to detect structural damage. Due to complexity of guided wave behavior, efficient and accurate computation tools are essential to study the mechanisms that account for coupling, dispersion, and interaction with damage. In this study, a numerical technique is presented for guided waves propagation in metallic structure by employing co-simulation using ABAQUS Standard module and ABAQUS Explicit module simultaneously to simulate transient wave propagation from an PZT actuator into a metallic plate. The present co-simulation analysis couples multiphysics (piezoelectric) analysis with transient dynamics (wave propagation) analysis. A numerical test is conducted using a PZT actuator for exciting planar Lamb waves and a sensor for acquiring wave signals. The signals achieved from defected and pristine models by FEA are then compared to identify and detect damage in the structure.
