Flexural waves induced by a high current electron beam in a thin plate

Intense flexural waves excited in thin plates by a nanosecond pulsed power electron beam are investigated by the laser interferometry method and theoretically. Experiments were made for thin round plates made of fused silica, aluminum alloy, and composite of carbon fibers in epoxy matrix. The calculation method is developed in terms of the thermoelasticity linear theory. The numerical results appear to be in a good agreement with the experimental data. Especially good agreement is observed for the brittle material (fused silica) due to its better elasticity. The analysis of theoretical and experimental results shows that the excitation of flexural waves as well as longitudinal waves is the primary effect of exciting a solid by pulsed electron beam. Clarity of the experimental situation and sufficient agreement with the theory allow us to determine some important constants of a material, such as Poisson´s ratio, Young´s modulus, Grüneisen´s parameter.