Spectral Finite Element Method - Wave Propagation, Diagnostics and Control in Anisotropic and Inhomogeneous Structures






Preface

Wave propagation is an exciting field having applications cutting across many

disciplines. In the field of structural engineering and smart structures, wave

propagation based tools have found increasing applications especially in the

area of structural health monitoring and active control of vibrations and noise.

In addition, there has been tremendous progress in the area of material science,

wherein a new class of structural materials is designed to meet the particular

application. In most cases, these materials are not isotropic as in metallic

structures. They are either anisotropic (as in the case of laminated composite

structures) or inhomogeneous (as in the case of functionally graded materials).

Analysis of these structures is many orders more complex than that of

isotropic structures. For many scientists/engineers, a clear difference between

structural dynamics and wave propagation is not evident. Traditionally, a

structural designer will not be interested in the behavior of structures beyond

certain frequencies, which are essentially at the lower end of the frequency

scale. For such situations, available general purpose finite element code will

satisfy the designer’s requirement. However, currently, structures are required

to be designed to sustain very complex and harsh loading environments. These

loadings are essentially multi-modal phenomena and their analysis falls under

the domain of wave propagation rather than structural dynamics. Evaluation

of the structural integrity of anisotropic and inhomogeneous structures subjected

to such loadings is a complex process. The currently available analysis

tools are highly inadequate to handle the modeling of these structures. In this

book, we present a technique called the “Spectral Finite Element Method”,

which we believe will address some of the shortcomings of the existing analysis tools.


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