A procedure for the ultrasonic evaluation of the interlayer interfacial stiffness of multilayered structures is proposed. As a theoretical background to this proposal, the elastic wave propagation in a multilayered structure, in which the layers are bonded with spring-type interfaces, is analyzed theoretically based on the transfer-matrix method. Using the notion of the Bloch phase which characterizes wave transmission in the corresponding infinite periodic structure, some explicit relations are derived for the reflection coefficient of the multilayered structure. Based on the features clarified theoretically, the interlayer interfacial stiffness of the multilayered structure can be evaluated from the locations of local minima and maxima of the amplitude reflection spectrum. By numerical analysis, the proposed procedure is shown to apply even when the viscous property of the layers is not known precisely, and when a transient waveform of a limited length is used. Using the proposed procedure, the stiffness of interlayer resin-rich regions in a carbon-epoxy cross-ply composite laminate is identified from the experimental reflection spectrum. The identified stiffness is shown to lie within the range as expected from the micrographic observation and a simple estimate for a thin resin layer.
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