Flexural wave dispersion in orthotropic plates with heavy fluid loading

Orthotropic plates support flexural waves with wavenumbers that depend on their angle of propagation. The present work investigates the effect of fluid loading on this angular dependence, and finds that the effect is relatively small for typical composite plate materials in contact with water. This finding results from an analytical model of the fluid-loaded plate, in which the plate is modeled by classical laminated plate theory and the fluid is modeled as an ideal acoustic fluid. The resulting dispersion relation is a tenth-order polynomial in the flexural wavenumber. Direct numerical solution, as well as analysis at frequencies below coincidence, reveals that the angular dependence of wavenumber is magnified but not significantly distorted by the addition of fluid loading.