An experimental investigation of guided waves in rolled aluminum sheets has been undertaken, and a companion paper (following) reports on theoretical work relevant to these experiments. Transmitting and receiving transducers were coupled to one side of an aluminum sheet, and the propagation characteristics of linear and non‐linear elastic waves were measured. Scans of frequency and transducer separation showed the effects of mode coupling and anisotropy in the aluminum sheets, and indicated the presence of cumulative resonant harmonic generation. © 2003 American Institute of Physics