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Concept
Rayleigh wave
Summary
Rayleigh waves are a type of surface acoustic wave that travel along the surface of solids. They can be produced in materials in many ways, such as by a localized impact or by piezo-electric transduction, and are frequently used in non-destructive testing for detecting defects. Rayleigh waves are part of the seismic waves that are produced on the Earth by earthquakes. When guided in layers they are referred to as Lamb waves, Rayleigh–Lamb waves, or generalized Rayleigh waves.
Rayleigh waves are a type of surface wave that travel near the surface of solids. Rayleigh waves include both longitudinal and transverse motions that decrease exponentially in amplitude as distance from the surface increases. There is a phase difference between these component motions.
The existence of Rayleigh waves was predicted in 1885 by Lord Rayleigh, after whom they were named. In isotropic solids these waves cause the surface particles to move in ellipses in planes normal to the surface and parallel to the direction of propagation – the major axis of the ellipse is vertical. At the surface and at shallow depths this motion is retrograde, that is the in-plane motion of a particle is counterclockwise when the wave travels from left to right. At greater depths the particle motion becomes prograde. In addition, the motion amplitude decays and the eccentricity changes as the depth into the material increases. The depth of significant displacement in the solid is approximately equal to the acoustic wavelength. Rayleigh waves are distinct from other types of surface or guided acoustic waves such as Love waves or Lamb waves, both being types of guided waves supported by a layer, or longitudinal and shear waves, that travel in the bulk.
Rayleigh waves have a speed slightly less than shear waves by a factor dependent on the elastic constants of the material. The typical speed of Rayleigh waves in metals is of the order of 2–5 km/s, and the typical Rayleigh speed in the ground is of the order of 50–300 m/s for shallow waves less than 100-m depth and 1.
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