Propagation of Stress Waves in a Laminated Plate Composite

Abstract

The dispersion of a finite, dilatational stress wave propagating in a laminated composite was investigated both experimentally and analytically. The composite consisted of ten bilaminar plates oriented so that the plane of the plates was normal to the direction of the wave propagation. A flat plate accelerated by a compressed gas gun was used to induce a planar impact. Two one‐dimensional wave‐propagation codes were used to analyze the problem and to make comparisons with the experimental results. In general, the comparisons were good, indicating one‐dimensional wave‐propagation codes can be used to describe wave propagation in composites of this configuration. The analysis indicates the need to account for the influence of fracture and the nonlinearities of the constitutive materials in the description of the transmitted stress wave.