Surface waves in anisotropic media: propagation in a homogeneous piezoelectric halfspace

Abstract

A decomposition of the elastic, piezoelectric and dielectric tensors has been developed for numerical computation of the characteristics of surface waves propagating in a homogeneous half-space. The decomposition also offers many theoretical insights not previously available. The particular form of anisotropic symmetry with respect to the direction of propagation critically affects the properties of the surface waves. These symmetries introduce singularities in the computations, which require special treatment, and distinctive polarizations of the elastic displacements and electric potential, which are diagnostic of the particular symmetry.