Acoustic wave propagation in continuous functionally graded plates

The propagation of guided waves in continuous functionally graded plates (FGPs) is studied by using Legendre polynomials. Dispersion curves, power and field profiles are easily obtained. Numerical results are given for a graded plate. It is felt that the presented method could be of quite practical interest either in nondestructive testing of FGPs to identify the best inspection strategies or, by means of a numerical inversion algorithm, for determination of through-thickness gradients in material parameters.