Rayleigh Waves in Materials Reinforced by Two Families of Fibres

Abstract

Detailed account of surface waves in anisotropic elastic materials has been given by CHADWICK and SMITH [1] and particularly in cubic elastic materials by the same authors [2]. SPENCER [3,4] has shown that anisotropic solids may be successfully modelled as fibre-reinforced solids with one or more families of fibres. Wave propagation in an infinite plate reinforced by one family of fibres has been analysed by GREEN [5] and GREEN and MILOSAVLJEVIĆ [6] and they have shown that in the short wave limit the stress-free plate behaves as a semi-infinite region, giving solutions of Rayleigh wave type. An infinite plate reinforced by two families of straight mechanically equivalent fibres has been considered by MILOSAVLJEVIĆ [7] and particularly surface waves in [8]. It has been shown that in the case of inextensible fibres Rayleigh waves can propagate only in special directions, that is in directions perpendicular to one of the families of the fibres.