<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>In this paper a measurement procedure to identify viscoelastic material parameters of plate-like samples using broadband ultrasonic waves is presented. Ultrasonic Lamb waves are excited via the thermoelastic effect using laser radiation and detected by a piezoelectric transducer. The resulting measurement data is transformed to yield information about multiple propagating Lamb waves as well as their attenuation. These results are compared to simulation results in an inverse procedure to identify the parameters of an elastic and a viscoelastic material model.</jats:p>

Acoustic waves in plates have proven a viable tool for testing and material characterisation purposes. There are a multitude of options for excitation and detection of theses waves, such as optical and piezoelectric systems. While optical systems, with thermoelastic excitation and interferometric detection, have the benefit of being contactless, they usually require rather complex and expensive experimental setups. Piezoelectric systems are more easily realised but require direct contact with the specimen and usually have a limited bandwidth, especially in case of piezoelectric excitation. In this work, the authors compare the properties of piezoelectric and optical detection methods for broad-band acoustic signals. The shape (e. g. the displacement) of a propagating plate wave is given by its frequency and wave number, allowing to investigate correlations between mode shapes and received signal strengths. This is aided by evaluations in normalised frequency and wavenumber space, facilitating comparisons of different specimens. Further, the authors explore possibilities to utilise the specific properties of the detection methods to determine acoustic material parameters.

An approach for the non-destructive characterisation of adhesive bonds using guided ultrasonic waves is presented. Pulsed laser radiation is used to thermoacoustically excite broadband ultrasonic waves in a multi-layered sample, consisting of a metal plate adhesively joined to a polymeric layer using synthetic resin. The resulting signals are received by a purpose-built piezoelectric transducer. Varying the distance between excitation and detection yields spatio-temporal measurement data, from which the dispersive properties of the propagating waves can be inferred using a two-dimensional Fourier transform, assuming the plates to act as coupled waveguides. Coupled multi-layered waveguides show an effect referred to as <jats:italic>mode repulsion</jats:italic>, where the distance between certain modes in the frequency-wavenumber domain is assumed to be a measure of coupling strength. Measurements at different stages of curing of the adhesive layer are performed and evaluated. A comparison of the results shows changes in the dispersive properties, namely an increased modal bandwidth for the fully cured sample as well as an increased modal distance.