Modeling and analysis of acoustoelastic guided waves propagation in anisotropic fiber reinforced polymer composite plates under initial gradient stress

Process-induced initial gradient stress is inevitable during the fabrication of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites. In this research, governing wave equations with variable coefficients are established for FRP plates under initial gradient stress, based on the acoustoelastic theories. The Legendre polynomial (LP) method is utilized to derive the solving algorithm. The dispersion curves are obtained without layer slicing, which provides a more realistic analysis model for gradient stress. The accuracy and convergence of the proposed method are discussed through numerical examples. The influences of initial gradient stress on dispersion slowness curves of Lamb and SH waves are analyzed, considering the parabolic initial gradient stress distribution, in which it's common in the manufacturing process of FRP composites. The effect of initial gradient stress distribution on the phase velocity is investigated in detail. The influence of the anisotropic effect of FRP on guided wave propagation under initial gradient stress is discussed. The numerical analysis shows that the behavior of guided waves is influenced not only by the initial gradient stress but also dominated by propagation direction in anisotropic FRP composite plates. These results can provide a useful reference for the testing based on guided waves for FRP composite, especially when the initial gradient stress is encountered.