This paper concerns the propagation of Rayleigh waves in compressible
prestressed elastic half-spaces. The main aim is to derive formulas for the
HV ratio
(ellipticity), which is the ratio of the amplitude of the horizontal displacement to the
amplitude of the vertical displacement of Rayleigh waves. First, the equation for the
HV
ratio is obtained using the secular equation and the relation between the
HV
ratio and the Rayleigh wave velocity. Then, formulas for the
HV
ratio are derived for a general strain-energy function. They
are then specified for some strain-energy functions. Since the
HV
ratio is a good tool for nondestructively evaluating the prestresses of structures
before and during loading, the obtained formulas will be very useful in practical
applications.
Keywords
Rayleigh waves, prestressed half-spaces, H/V ratio, H/V
ratio formulas