Reflection and refraction of plane waves at the loosely bonded common interface of piezoelectric fibre-reinforced and fibre-reinforced composite media

Abstract

The rapid development of the modern age has increased the urge of using composite structures having applications in the realm of various engineering fields. Specifically, fibre-reinforced piezoelectric composites are in the forefront of the present era because of its light weight, great strength and hence improved performance over the piezoelectric materials alone. Therefore, the present paper delves with the problem of reflection and refraction of plane waves when it is incident at the interface of a Piezoelectric Fibre-reinforced Composite (PFRC) medium and Fibre-reinforced Composite (FRC) medium. It is assumed that the media are loosely bonded to each other and are under horizontal initial stresses. It is established that the boundary conditions are satisfied by the set of three coupled waves associated with the PFRC medium (namely quasi-longitudinal wave (qP), quasi-transverse wave (qSV), electrostatic wave (EA)) and two coupled waves associated with the FRC medium (namely quasi-longitudinal wave (qP), quasi-transverse wave (qSV)). The amplitude ratio of reflected and refracted waves are obtained with the aid of suitable boundary conditions at the common interface of the two media. The effect of anisotropy, initial stresses and loose bonding on the amplitude ratio are studied numerically and demonstrated by means of graphs. The effect of anisotropy is also studied on the slowness curves, plotted in slowness surface. Moreover, the relation for energy partition is also derived and it is established that the total normal energy flux balance at the interface is unity.