Numerical simulation of lamb wave excitation by the partially debonded rectangular strip-like piezoelectric actuator based on the integral approach and hp-FEM

Piezoelectric transducers are employed in active SHM systems in order to excite motions in structures and record response with the purpose of examining damage. The partial contact loss between a sensor and an examined structure could affect the SHM application. Therefore mathematical simulation and experimental investigation are necessary to analyze the debonding effect on the piezo-induced wavefield. A two-dimensional coupled mathematical model for the dynamic behavior of a piezoactuator attached to the surface of an elastic layer is presented. The obtained model is based on the combination of the spectral element method or high precision finite element method (hp-FEM) and the integral approach. In order to verify developed mathematical model, experiments with elongated rectangular perfectly glued and debonded piezoactuators have been conducted. A good correspondence between numerical and experimental results is shown.