Signals propagate on plate-like structures as ultrasonic guided waves, and analysis of Lamb waves has been widely used for on-line monitoring. In this study, the wave velocities of symmetric and anti-symmetric modes in various directions of propagation were investigated. Since the wave velocities of these two modes are different, it is possible to compute the difference in their arrival times when these waves propagated the distance from the vibration source to sensor. This paper presents an evaluation formulation of wave velocity and describes a generalized algorithm for locating a vibration source on a thin, laminated plate. With the different velocities of two modes based on Lamb wave dispersion, the method uses two sensors to locate the source on a semi-infinite interval of a plate. The experimental procedure supporting this method employs pencil lead breaks to simulate vibration sources on quasi-isotropic and unidirectional laminated plates. The transient signals generated in this way are transformed using a wavelet transform. The vibration source locations are then detected by utilizing the distinct wave velocities and arrival times of the symmetric and anti-symmetric wave modes. The method is an effective technique for identifying impact locations on plate-like structures.
