Guided wave propagation in honeycomb sandwich structures using a piezoelectric actuator/sensor system

Due to the complex nature of such composite structures, an understanding of the guided wave propagation mechanism in honeycomb composite panels with different frequencies inherently imposes many challenges. In this paper, a numerical simulation is first conducted to investigate the wave propagation mechanism in honeycomb sandwich structures using piezoelectric actuators/sensors. In contrast to most of the previous work, elastic wave responses based on the real geometry of the honeycomb core are obtained by using the finite element method (FEM). Based on the simulation, the global guided waves in the composite can be observed when the loading frequency is low and the leaky guided waves in the skin panel are found when the loading frequency is sufficiently high. The applicability of the homogenization technique for a celled core is discussed. The effects of cell geometry on the wave propagation are also demonstrated. Experimental testing is finally conducted to validate the results of numerical simulation and very good agreement is observed. Specifically, some guided wave propagation characteristics such as group velocity dispersion and mode tuning capabilities with the presence of a honeycomb core are discussed.