Open AccessElastic waves in a transitional solid with arbitrarily small rigidity
Author(s) -
Gilbert Freeman
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
geophysical journal international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.302
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1365-246X
pISSN - 0956-540X
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-246x.1998.00486.x
Subject(s) - rigidity (electromagnetism) , shear waves , ode , curl (programming language) , mathematical analysis , physics , wave propagation , shear (geology) , classical mechanics , mechanics , mathematics , geology , optics , computer science , petrology , quantum mechanics , programming language
Summary The system of ODE that governs elastic‐wave propagation in plane stratified media becomes singular as the elastic rigidity approaches zero. Two approximate methods are presented to address the problem. First, for P – SV waves, one can impose the condition that the displacement is curl‐free in the transitional solid. This condition suppresses shear waves. Second, one can represent a thin transitional solid as a massive elastic interface (MEI). The MEI boundary conditions do not become singular as the MEI rigidity approaches zero.