Extensional and flexural modes of Rayleigh–Lamb wave in an orthotropic thermoelastic layer lying over a viscoelastic half-space

Abstract

In this article the characteristics of the extensional and flexural modes, propagating in a thermoelastic orthotropic layer lying over a viscoelastic half-space, are analyzed. The complete analysis is carried out in the framework of a thermodynamically consistent hyperbolic type heat conduction model without energy dissipation. The normal-mode-analysis is adopted and a general form of dispersive equation is derived for an anisotropic thermoelastic layered medium. A prominent distinction with the isotropic elastic solids is observed in the symmetric as well as anti-symmetric modes of dispersion curves. In turn, such deformation reshapes the wave propagation while the deformation stiffening changes significantly the phase velocities of the wave till the acoustic radiation stresses are balanced by elastic stresses in the current configuration of the hyperelastic medium.