Spectral Finite Element Method for Studying the Wave Response on using SH modes in Adhesively Bonded Metallic Joints

Abstract

The importance of adhesively bonded joints in aerospace industry is undebatable. But a defect proof joint is not guaranteed by even the most sophisticated manufacturing techniques. Hence, health monitoring of these joints is of utmost significance. Use of horizontally polarized shear waves for non-destructive testing of these joints is addressed in this work. Wave responses in a metallic plate are obtained using spectral finite element method. In this method, the displacement fields are first calculated in frequency domain using exact interpolating functions and then transformed back to time domain. This ensures very small computational system size. The spectral element developed here predicts the wave response of the fundamental shear mode that propagates non-dispersively and with a constant speed in a metallic plate. The computational time and effort required using this formulation are orders of magnitude smaller as compared to that using conventional finite element method.