Propagation and attenuation of Rayleigh waves in generalized thermoelastic media

Abstract

This study considers the propagation of Rayleigh waves in a generalized thermoelastic half-space with stress-free plane boundary. The boundary has the option of being either isothermal or thermally insulated. In either case, the dispersion equation is obtained in the form of a complex irrational expression due to the presence of radicals. This dispersion equation is rationalized into a polynomial equation, which is solvable, numerically, for exact complex roots. The roots of the dispersion equation are obtained after removing the extraneous zeros of this polynomial equation. Then, these roots are filtered out for the inhomogeneous propagation of waves decaying with depth. Numerical examples are solved to analyze the effects of thermal properties of elastic materials on the dispersion of existing surface waves. For these thermoelastic Rayleigh waves, the behavior of elliptical particle motion is studied inside and at the surface of the medium. Insulation of boundary does play a significant role in changing the speed, amplitude, and polarization of Rayleigh waves in thermoelastic media.