Measurements and finite element simulations of guided waves propagating along linear and circular wedges

This paper is focused on the measurements and finite element analysis of wedge waves propagating along tips of circular wedges, with linear measurements as a benchmark. The measurement technique is a laser-generation/laser-detection laser ultrasound technique (LUT). Dynamic finite element analysis is employed for the investigation of the dispersion behavior of wedge waves. For the linear wedge, our measurement and simulation results agree with previous reports. But for the case of the circular wedge, very interesting phenomena are discovered for the first time. Dispersion relations with negative slope in the phase velocity-frequency space are discovered for the first anti-symmetric mode of the wedge wave for the first time.