Design optimization of transducer arrays for uniform distribution of guided wave energy in arbitrarily shaped domains

The use of an array of transducers to excite guided Lamb waves, within a plate or any complex structure, usually leads to a variation in the energy on the propagation direction. In this study, an optimization model is proposed to design an array of transducers to provide uniform energy distribution in a domain of an arbitrary shape. The model is based on finding the optimal placements of the transducers and the optimal time delay for excitation by using a genetic algorithm. The efficiency of the model was tested on an elliptically shaped domain, then on an arbitrarily shaped domain. Both cases showed promising results using various configurations/patterns of transducers. The method was experimentally validated on an aluminium alloy plate for two patterns of transducers including six and eight piezoelectric elements.