An Experimental Study of Dispersion of Stress Waves in a Fiber-Reinforced Composite

Abstract

An ultrasonic pulse technique was used to investigate the dispersive behavior of plane harmonic waves in a boron-epoxy composite. The dependence of group velocity upon frequency is determined for longitudinal and transverse waves propagating either parallel or perpendicular to the fibers. The static elastic moduli for the composite are also obtained, and to a first approximation the material is found to be tetragonal.