Numerical modeling of wave propagation in functionally graded materials using time-domain spectral Chebyshev elements

Numerical modeling of the Lamb wave propagation in functionally graded materials (FGMs) by a two-dimensional time-domain spectral finite element method (SpFEM) is presented. The high-order Chebyshev polynomials as approximation functions are used in the present formulation, which provides the capability to take into account the through thickness variation of the material properties. The efficiency and accuracy of the present model with one and two layers of 5th order spectral elements in modeling wave propagation in FGM plates are analyzed. Different excitation frequencies in a wide range of 28–350 kHz are investigated, and the dispersion properties obtained by the present model are verified by reference results. The through thickness wave structure of two principal Lamb modes are extracted and analyzed by the symmetry and relative amplitude of the vertical and horizontal oscillations. The differences with respect to Lamb modes generated in homogeneous plates are explained. Zero-crossing and wavelet signal processing–spectrum decomposition procedures are implemented to obtain phase and group velocities and their dispersion properties. So it is attested how this approach can be practically employed for simulation, calibration and optimization of Lamb wave based nondestructive evaluation techniques for the FGMs. The capability of modeling stress wave propagation through the thickness of an FGM specimen subjected to impact load is also investigated, which shows that the present method is highly accurate as compared with other existing reference data.