Phased Array Beamforming and Imaging in Composite Laminates Using Guided Waves

This paper presents the phased array beamforming and imaging using guided waves in anisotropic composite laminates. A generic phased array beamforming formula is presented, based on the classic delay-and-sum principle. The generic formula considers direction-dependent guided wave properties induced by the anisotropic material properties of composites. Moreover, the array beamforming and imaging are performed in frequency domain where the guided wave dispersion effect has been considered. The presented phased array method is implemented with a non-contact scanning laser Doppler vibrometer (SLDV) to detect multiple defects at different locations in an anisotropic composite plate. The array is constructed of scan points in a small area rapidly scanned by the SLDV. Using the phased array method, multiple defects at different locations are successfully detected. Our study shows that the guided wave phased array method is a potential effective method for rapid inspection of large composite structures.