Secular Equations for Rayleigh Waves in 2D Anisotropic Media — Transition from the Implicit to Explicit Representation

Abstract

The problem of Rayleigh waves polarized in a plane of symmetry of an anisotropic linear elastic medium is investigated in terms of displacements. The implicit secular equation is derived and subsequently rearranged into a system of three polynomial equations, which is convenient for further analysis of the problem. Next, a new straightforward procedure based on Vieta’s formulas is developed to reduce the system into a single explicit quartic secular equation. Numerical examples describing both approaches are presented for two monoclinic materials “diopside” and “microcline”.