Modelling wave propagation in two-dimensional structures using a wave/finite element technique

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to present a general method for the numerical analysis of wave propagation in 2-dimensional structures by the use of a finite element method (FEM). The method involves typically just one finite element to which periodicity conditions are applied instead of modelling the whole structure, thus reducing drastically the cost of calculations. The mass and stiffness matrices are found using conventional FE software. The low order dynamic stiffness matrix so obtained is post-processed and the wavenumbers and the frequencies then follow from various resulting eigenproblems. The method is described and numerical examples given. These include isotropic and orthotropic plates, isotropic cylindrical shells and the more complex case of sandwich cylindrical shells for which analytical solutions are not available. The last two cases are studied by postprocessing an ANSYS FE model. The main advantage of the technique is its flexibility since standard FE routines can be used and therefore a wide range of structural configurations can be easily analysed. Moreover the propagation constants for plane harmonic waves can be easily predicted for different propagation directions along the structure. The method is seen to give accurate predictions at negligible computational cost.

More information

Identifiers

ORCID for B.R. Mace: orcid.org/0000-0003-3312-4918

Catalogue record

Export record