Scattering Attenuation of SH-Waves in Fiber-Reinforced Composites with Partial Imperfectly Bonded Interfaces

Abstract

The influence of partial imperfectly bonded interfaces between each fiber and the matrix on the scattering attenuation of coherent SH-waves in fiber-reinforced composites is investigated. The imperfection of interfaces is modelled using the spring model, in which the level of imperfection is characterized by a parameter K, which is called the stiffness of the imperfect interfaces. First, the single scattering of SH-waves by a cylindrical fiber with such a partial imperfectly bonded interface to the matrix is formulated and subsequently solved using the collocation point (CP) method. Later on, based on the analysis of the corresponding single scattering problem, effects of several parameters (i.e., frequency of the incident wave, level of imperfection of interfaces, and width of the imperfect interfaces) on the far-field scattering magnitude, scattering cross section, and scattering attenuation coefficients of coherent SH-waves are shown graphically. The potential application of the current results to nondestructive evaluation of interfaces in composites is also discussed.