On the propagation of waves in layered anisotropic media in generalized thermoelasticity

Abstract

In view of the increased usage of anisotropic materials in the development of advanced engineering materials such as fibers and composite and other multilayered, propagation of thermoelastic waves in arbitrary anisotropic layered plate is investigated in the context of the generalized theory of thermoelasticity. Beginning with a formal analysis of waves in a heat-conducting N-layered plate of an arbitrary anisotropic media, the dispersion relations of thermoelastic waves are obtained by invoking continuity at the interface and boundary conditions on the surfaces of layered plate. The calculation is then carried forward for more specialized case of a monoclinic layered plate. The obtained solutions which can be used for material systems of higher symmetry (orthotropic, transversely isotropic, cubic, and isotropic) are contained implicitly in our analysis. The case of normal incidence is also considered separately. Some special cases have also been deduced and discussed. We also demonstrate that the particle motions for SH modes decouple from rest of the motion, and are not influenced by thermal variations if the propagation occurs along an in-plane axis of symmetry. The results of the strain energy distribution in generalized thermoelasticity are useful in determining the arrangements of the layer in thermal environment.