Scattering of an Impact Wave by a Crack in a Composite Plate

The surface responses due to impact load on an infinite uniaxial graphite/epoxy plate containing a horizontal crack is investigated both in time and frequency domain by using a hybrid method combining the finite element discretization of the near-field with boundary integral representation of the field outside a contour completely enclosing the crack. This combined method leads to a set of linear unsymmetric complex matrix equations, which are solved to obtain the response in the frequency domain by biconjugate gradient method. The time-domain response is then obtained by using an FFT. In order to capture the time-domain characteristics accurately, high-order finite elements have been used. Also, both the six-node singular elements and eight-node transition elements are used around the crack tips to model the crack-tip singularity. From the numerical results for surface responses it seems possible to clearly identify both the depth and length of this crack.