An investigation of the effects of material anisotropy and heterogeneity on pulsed, laser-generated acoustic signals

Point-source and line-source models for the laser ultrasonic source in materials exhibiting transverse isotropy are applied to the specific problem of laser generation and ultrasonic propagation in unidirectional, polymer matrix composite materials. Comparing experiment and theory, it is shown that these composite materials exhibit homogeneous behavior, at the frequencies investigated, for ultrasonic wave propagation perpendicular to the fiber direction. For ultrasonic propagation in the fiber direction, ultrasonic dispersion, resulting from the inhomogeneous nature of the composite, affects the laser ultrasonic signal.