Simulation of elastic wave propagation in cylindrical structures including excitation by piezoelectric transducers.

The development and optimization of non-destructive testing procedures usually needs experimental data. As experiments are time-consuming and expensive to conduct, we would like to use numerical data instead. This is admissible, if the simulation describes the physical experiments accurately. A three-dimensional displacement-stress finite-difference model is presented for a piezoelectric transducer coupled to an anisotropic tube. The allocation of the displacement and stress components on a staggered grid leads to a stable scheme. A full piezoelectric model of the transducer is used, including transverse isotropy in the elastic, dielectric, and piezoelectric constants. Similar to an experiment, elastic waves are excited in the corresponding simulation by applying a voltage signal to the electrodes of the piezoelectric transducer. Predictions of the simulation model for a piezoelectric ring transducer coupled to a carbon-fibre-reinforced shell are compared to experimental results to test the validity of the numerical data.