Transmission of Elastic Waves through a Stratified Solid Medium

William T. Thomson

Citation: J. Appl. Phys. 21, 89 (1950); doi: 10.1063/1.1699629

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increased in order to reduce the length of the tube, the
spot distortion would be quite objectionable. In such
a situation correction by predistortion would be very
effective.
C. CONCLUDING REMARKS
The discussion above has been limited to the case of
a tube employing a static deflection. In the operation
of a cathode-ray tube under normal circumstances,
circuits which permit automatic correction during the
scanning cycle are required but will not be discussed
here. The magnitudes of the correction potentials and
their functional relationships to the deflection poten-
tials depend on the particular design of the focusing
and deflection systems and upon the degree of spot
correction desired.
Transmission of Elastic Waves through a Stratified Solid Medium
WILLIAM T.
University of Wisconsin, M adison, Wisconsin
(Received June 14, 1949)
The transmission of a plane elastic wave at oblique incidence through a stratified solid medium consisting
of any number of parallel plates of different material and thickness is studied theoretically. The matrix
method is used to systematize the analysis and to present the equations in a form suitable for computation.
INTRODUCTION
T HE transmission of elastic waves in a homogeneous
solid has been extensively treated by G. G.
Stokes. l Barring surface waves of the type discussed by
Rayleigh,2 such waves are propagated as dilatation and
rotation waves (frequently referred to as shear waves),
each traveling with a different speed. It is thus neces-
sary in dealing with such problems first to express the
particle displacements in terms of the dilatation and
rotation. 3
The transmission of plane elastic waves through a
stratified medium consisting of alternate parallel planes
of solid and liquid layers has been treated by R. B.
Lindsay4 and others. 6, 6 Since ideal fluids are incapable
of sustaining tangential forces, the shearing stresses in
the solid-liquid strata must vanish at the surfaces of the
* Associate Professor of Mechanics.
1 G. G. Stokes, "Dynamic Theory of Diffraction," Mathematical
and Physical Papers (Cambridge University Press, London, 1883),
Vol. II, part 1, pp. 250-290.
2 Love, Mathematical Theory of Elasticity (Dover Publications,
New York, 1944), pp. 307-309.
3 Lord Rayleigh, Theory of Sound (Dover Publications, New
York, 1945), part II, p. 417.
4 R. B. Lindsay, J. Acous. Soc. Am. 11, 178-183 (1939).
6 J. B. Smyth and R. B. Lindsay, J. Acous. Soc. Am. 16, 20-25
(1944).
6 H. Reissner, "Der senkrechte und schrage Durchtritt einer in
einem fiiissigen Medium erzeugten ebenen Dilatations Welle
durch einen in diesem Medium befindliche planparallele feste
Platte," Helv. Phys. Acta. 11, 140-155 (1938).
VOLUME 21, FEBRUARY, 1950
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Although the correction method discussed here is for
an electrostatic focusing and deflection system, it is
possible to apply the principle of beam predistortion to
magnetic focusing and deflection systems as well. In
this connection, however, it should be pointed out that
magnetic lenses, either spherical or cylindrical, are
everywhere converging, i.e., there is no diverging region.
If spot correction is attempted by the use of "two-
dimensional" magnetic lenses, two such lenses rotated
90° with respect to each other are required.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors wish to take this opportunity of ac-
knowledging the valuable contributions made by L. H.
McKee of these laboratories in carrying out most of
the experimental part of the work described.
THOMSON*
solid plates, thus red'ucing the problem to that of a
single plate.
When the stratified medium consists of parallel solid
plates without liquid layers between them, the problem
cannot be reduced to that of a single section. The equa-
tions for one section must now be related to those of the
adjoining section by the continuity of particle velocity,
normal and shearing stresses at the interface. This is
most conveniently accomplished by matrices which
avoids unwieldly mathematical expressions and facili-
tates the computational task. The directio,n of propaga-
.tion through each strata is established by Snell's law.
Nomenclature
~, 1/, t=particle displacement in x, y, z directions
t, ~, t=particle velocity in x, y, z directions
.1 = dilatation
w = rotation (subscript indicates direction of
normal to rotation plane)
C<1= [(X+2G)/ p]l=velocity of dilatational
wave in solid
c.,= (G/ p)l=velocity of rotation or shear wave
in solid
co=velocity of propagation in the fluid
X= pE/[(1+p)(1-2p)]
E= Young's modulus of elasticity
p=Poisson's ratio
G=modulus of elasticity in shear
89
 p = mass density For instance, from the first of Eq. (4)
p=frequency in radians/sec.
h=p/ct>. 1 a 2 a 2 a
k=p/c., V'2~= ---(V'21l)+- -(V'2w.)--_(V'2wy )
h2 ax k2 ay k2 az
u=normal stress
r= shearing stress (subscript indicates direc-
which compared with the first of Eq. (3) results in the
tion of normal to plane of shear) wave equations
t, m, n=direction cosines of normal to advancing
wave with respect to x, y, z axes (V'2+h2)1l=0,
d = thickness of plates (V'2+k 2)w.= 0,
P=hnt>.d (V'2+k 2)wll= o.
Q=kn",d
R = reflection coefficient
GENERAL EQUATIONS FOR STRESSES IN TERMS OF
T= transmission coefficient DILATATION AND ROTATION
ip', ip", ip'll=incident, reflected and transmitted waves
in fluid surrounding the stratified medium From the theory of elasticity we have the equations
00 = incident angle. for stress in terms of displacements as follows:

GENERAL EQUATIONS FOR DISPLACEMENTS IN

TERMS OF DILATATION AND ROTATION
and two others,
The dilatation and rotation are defined by the follow-
ing equations.
a~ afJ at TX=G(afJ+ at)
Il=-+-+- (1) az ay
ax ay az
and two others. Hence by substituting from Eq. (4) we
wx=t(at _ afJ) obtain the equations for stress in terms of V' and w
ay az
(2)

w.=t(::-;:)
Differentiating Il with respect to x, y, and z, we obtain
the three equations
all aw. aWIi
V'2~=--2-+2-,
ax ay az
all aw", aw.
V'2fJ = - - 2-+ 2-, (3)
ay az ax
(5)
2
all aw aw x y
V' t= - - 2 - + 2 - ·
az ax ay
The general solution for the displacements in terms of
Il and w which also satisfies the wave equation for
dilation and rotation of harmonic time variation is
all 2 aw. 2 aw
1 y
~=---+-----,
h2 ax k2 ay k2 az
1 all 2 aw x 2 aw.
fJ=---+-----, (4)
h2 ay k2 az k2 ax
1 all 2 aw 2 aw", y a2wz 1 a2wx)
1
t=---+-----· + k2 at + k2 axaz .
h az k ax k ay
2 2 2

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 TRANSMISSION OF PLANE WAVES THROUGH
STRATIFIED SOLID PLATES
Choosing the coordinate axes as shown in Fig. 1,
W"" WI/and m will be zero. Considering the nth plate, the
dilitation and rotation satisfying the wave equation are
b.= [b.' exp(ih(h.x+n~z»+ b./I.exp(ih(l~x-n~z»Jeipt
(6)
w= [w' exp(ikCl",x+nwz»+w" exp(ik(lwx-nwz»Jeipl

where the primed and double primed quantities repre-

sent the advancing and reflected waves. Substituting
into Eq. (4) and (5) and omitting the trivial time factor,
we obtain the following equations at x=O, z=d, and
x=O, z=O, expressed in matrix form. FIG. 1.

r~... pl~ ipl~ 2pn w i2pn",

I-cosp -sinP --cosQ --sinQ b.'+b."
h h k k
ipn~ pn~ i2pl", 2pl",
t .. --sinP -cosP ---sinQ --cosQ b.'- b."
h h k k (7)
()"+2Gn~2) cosP i()..+ 2Gn~2) sinP -4Glwnw cosQ - i4Gl",n", sinQ w'-w"

ihn~ sinP l~n~~cosP •

2Gi

ph 2pn w
~n-l - 0 -- 0 r b.'+b."
h k
pn~ 2plw Ib.'- b."
tn-I 0 0
h k (8)
..
<Tn-I (A+2Gn~2) 0 -4Glwn", 0 w'-w"
Tn-I
0 l~n~ 0 - (t,}- n.,2) w'+w"
2G

The inversion of Eq. (8) is

4Gl",n", 2pn",
b.'+ b." --- 0 0 ~n-l
DI kDI

i
b.'- b." 0
(l}-n,})

D2
0
2pl",
kD2
(. -I
(9)
()"+2Gn~2) ph
w'-w" 0 0 <Tn-I
Dl hDl
l~n~ I
pn~ J
w'+w"
J
0
D2
0
hD z :~IJ
VOLUME 21, FEBRUARY, 1950 91

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where where [akJ represents the square matrix of Eq. (11) for
the kth plate.
The direction cosines 1tl., ntl., 1., and n., for each plate
can be obtained from Snell's law.
(10) sin60 sin6tl. sin6",
(13)
Co . Ctl. C'"
Letting 61 and 62 be the critical angles for the dilation
Thus by substituting Eq. (9) in (7) we obtain the re- and shear waves respectively, it is apparent that for any
currence formula plate there will be three regions for 60•

~n all al2 al3 au ~n-I (1) When 0:$ 60 :$ 61, both 6tl. and 6., will be real.
(2) When 61 < 60 :$ 62, 6tl. will be complex and 6", real.
tn a21 a22 a23 a24 tn-I (3) When 62 < 60 :$ 7r/2, both 6tl. and 6., will be complex.
O"n a3l a32 a33 a34 O"n.-l (11) As an example, in region (2) we let 6tl. = a+i,8 and ob-
tain a= 7r/2 and cosh,8= (Ctl./ co) sin6 0• Thus we replace
T" Tn.-I
sin6t. and cos6t. by cosh,8 and i sinh,8 respectively.
a41 a42 a43 a44
2G 2G If the planes 0 and n terminate in a liquid medium,
the shearing stresses TO and T" must vanish, ~esulting
where the expressions for the matrix elements are given in the boundary eqll:ation,
in the Appendix.
The continuity of particle velocities and stresses at A41~0+A42tO+A430"0=0. (14)
the interface enables one to express the quantities at the
Substituting Eq. (14) into Eq. (12) with TO=Tn=O
nth plate in terms of corresponding quantities at the
first plate. Starting with Eq. (11) we can write
rt" • (A22- A21A(2) (A23- A 21A(3) to
~o I A41 A4J
[io . (15)
fn to A
0"" (A32- A31 (2) (A33-A3lA43)
r r 0"0

r: ~
--I
2G)
I
an

~rr
0"0

TO

2G
A41 A4J J

To determine the transmission and reflection, we have

from Eq. (6) with W=O for the liquid medium, the
following.
(Au Al2 Au Au t n = conorp"' to= cono(rp' - rp")
A21 A22 A 23 A24
ri.to (16)
0"" = - C02pOrp'" 0"0= -c02pO(rp'+rp")
A31 A32 A33 (12)
AM] ". where rp', rp" and rp'" represent the incident, reflected,
TO and transmitted waves respectively. Substituting into
Au A42 A43 A44 Eq. (15) the reflection and transmission coefficients
2G become,

[A 22 - (A 21A42/A41)]-[As3- (A3lA43/ A (1 )] 2

I
R= rp"j2 = 1 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ -_[_A_23~-_(_A_2_IA_4_3/_A_4_1)_]_(C_op_o_/n_o_)+_[_A_32_-_(_A_3_IA_4_2/_A_4_1)_]_(n_o/_c_op_o_)
(17)
rp' [A 22 - (A 21A42/A (1 )]+[A s3 - (A 31A43/Au)] ,
+ [A 23 - (A 21A 43/A 41) ](CoPo/no) + [A 32- (A 3lA 42/A 41)] (no/ cOPo)
T=l-R. (18)

SPECIAL CASES all terms in [AJ vanish except the four central terms
The following special cases are of interest. and we obtain the equations
(1) Stratified medium is fluid, thus all shearing
stresses are zero. Letting G=Q=c.,=O, we find that the (19)
1st and 4th columns of [ak] are zero. This requires that

92 JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS

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 we find no transmission at 82 if the relationship
(20)
coshntJ.d = 2ltJ. (c",1CA) (26)

in is satistied, where nA and ttJ. are the direction cosines

coshnd -sinhnd corresponding to (J2'
ra22 a23i cp

."r
(21) APPENDIX
up
-sinhnd coshnd Matrix elements for Eq. (11) are given with the following
au n substitution.
ntJ. = cos8t:.
Thus for a single liquid layer we obtain the well-known
relation (see Rayleigh, Part II, Eq. (10), p. 88)
n.,=cos8.,
[(nIl no) (copol CIPl) - (nol nl) (CIPll COPO) J2 G=pC.,2
R (22) It:. =sin8t:.
4 cot2h1n 1d1 (X + 2GnA2) = pCtJ.2 cos28., 1,.=sin8.,
+ [(nIl no) (copolCIPl)+ (nOlnl)(clPl/ copon
DI = - 2pct:.c",[c", sin8tJ. sin28",+ctJ. cos8", cos219",]
(2) Stratified medium is solid, and the incident ray D.= [ctJ. cosOtJ. cos20",+c", sinO", sin20A]
is normal to the plates. In this case the shears vanish
pct:. c",[ . sF ]
and Eqs. (20), (21), and (22) become applicable with all = - 2 . 2
~ c'" sm8tJ. sm 0", co +ct:. cosO", cos20., cosQ
nO=nl=1.
(3) Transmission through a single solid plate at the
critical angles.
(a) At the critical angle flt for the dilation wave fl21 =-
2ict:.c",p[c'" cosOt:. sm
---n;- . 2 "
0", smP-cA smO., cos2061 sinQ
]
tA= 1 and nA=O. Re-examination of Eqs. (7) and (8)
shows that every term in the second row is zero which 2icAc",[COSOA cos'"
O'
fl.a= -~ smP+ smO,t:.
. .
smO", • Q]
sm
requires that the terms in the second row of Eq. (11)
be also zero. Furthermore, Eq. (15) becomes 2CA2C 2p2
aal =- ---i;- sin28", cos20",[cosP - cosQ]

! tl fo (a -a23 2l
:::) 1 to 2C;lCwP
a33= -~[CA cos8", cos2i9", cosF+c", smOtJ. sm20., cosQ]
• •

(23)

(·~-·<JI
fl41 = ~:[c",2 sin20A sin28., sinP+c.t:.2 cos220", sinQ]
0"11
[0 0"0 J
i
fl.,= -lit[c", cosO", sin20t:. sinP-ct:. sinOA cos20., sinQJ
and the ratio el'I cp' reduces to
-;:[CtJ. sin/iA cos2/1., sinP+c", cos8", sin28.t:. sinQ]
[a23 - a2l (a431 a41) J- [a3S - an (a431 a41) ]
fll2=
cpl!
(24)
cp' [a23 - a21 (a431 a41) J+ [ass - a31 (a431an) J a14= 2icAc",[smOt:.
--r;;- . • sm
smO", • P+ COsOA cosO", smQ
. ]

Re-evaluating aij, it can be shown that [a23 - a21 (a431 au) ] 1

a22=D'z[CA cos8t:. cos2i9", cosP+c", sinO", sin20t:. cosQ]
=0 and [aS3-aSl(a43/a41)J+O, thus cp"/el=-l and
the transmission is zero. 7
2ctJ.c", sinO", cosOA[ sP Q]
(b) At the critical angle (J2 for the shear wave 1",= 1 fl24 Dz co - cos
and n",= O. We find for this case that the first and third
rows in Eq. (11) are zeros. Consequently a32= ~[Ct:.2 cos228., sinP+c",' sin20.t:. sin28", sinQ]

cp" (a221 a32) -1 2ipctJ. c",[ ct:. smO

. .. cos2 ' P -c., cos9tJ. sm28
. ...
(25) fl34=---n;- 0", sm smQJ
cp' (a221 ad+ 1
sin29A sin20",[ sF Q]
which is equal to -1 only if a22=O and a239=O. Thus fl42 2Dz co - cos

7 W. C. Schneider and C.
(1949).
J. Burton, J. App. Phys. 20, 48-58 a .. = ~2[C61 sinO.. sin20.t:. COSP+CA cosO.!:. cos28", cosQ].

VOLUME 21, FEBRUARY, 1950 93

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