Influence of initial stress and gravity on torsional surface wave in heterogeneous medium

Abstract

The present paper investigates the effect of gravity and initial stress on the propagation of torsional surface waves in heterogeneous medium. The dispersion equation has been obtained for rigid and traction free boundaries in terms of Whittaker function. The present study reveals that torsional surface waves can propagate in both the cases. In this paper, we assume the expansion of Whittaker function up to linear term. It is observed that, in presence of initial stress and gravity for both rigid and traction free boundary, the phase velocity of torsional surface waves increases with the growth of rigidity. In both the cases, it has also been noticed that as the gravity increases, the phase velocity of the torsional surface waves decreases in presence of heterogeneity and initial stress. It is concluded that in presence of traction free boundary, the phase velocity of the torsional surface waves is more than the rigid boundary.