Existence of transverse waves in anisotropic poroelastic media

Abstract

SUMMARY Out of the four waves in an anisotropic poroelastic medium, two are termed as quasi-transverse waves. The prefix ‘quasi’ refers to their polarizations being nearly, but not exactly, perpendicular to direction of propagation. In this composite medium, unlike perfectly elastic medium, the propagation of a longitudinal wave along a phase direction may not be accompanied by transverse waves. The existence of a transverse wave in anisotropic poroelastic media is ensured by the two equations restricting the choice of elastic coefficients of porous aggregate as well as fluid–solid coupling. Necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of transverse waves along the coordinate axes and in the coordinate planes for general anisotropy are discussed. The discussion is extended to the case of orthotropic materials and existence for few specific phase directions is also explored. The conditions for the transverse waves decided on the basis of their apparent polarizations, that is, particle motion being perpendicular to ray direction, are also discussed. For a particular numerical model, the existence of these apparent transverse waves is solved numerically for phase directions in coordinate planes. For general directions of phase propagation, the existence of these transverse waves is checked graphically for the chosen numerical model.