Rheological model of Love wave propagation in viscoelastic layered media under gravity

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to deal with the propagation of Love waves in inhomogeneous viscoelastic layer overlying a gravitational half-space. It has been observed velocity of Love waves depends on viscosity, gravity, inhomogeneity and initial stress of the layer. Design/methodology/approach – The dispersion relation for the Love wave in closed form is obtained with Whitaker’s function. Findings – The effect of various non-dimensional inhomogeneity factors, gravity factor and internal friction on the non-dimensional Love wave velocity has been shown graphically. The authors observed that the dispersion curve of Love wave increases as the inhomogeneity factor increases. It is seen that increment in gravity, inhomogeneity and internal friction decreases the damping phase velocity of Love waves but it is more prominent in case of internal friction. Originality/value – Surface plot of Love wave reveals that the velocity ratio increases with the increase of non-dimensional phase velocity and non-dimensional wave number. The above results may attract seismologists and geologists.