Elements of Wave Propagation

CIVIL 504 - Lecture 2, January 18, 2021

Prof. Liam Finn
 Wave Speeds in Granite Rock

P (Primary) wave speed is Vp = 4.8 km/s

S (Shear) wave speed is Vs = 3.0km/s
R (Raleigh) wave speed is Vr = 0.92 Vs
L(Love) wave speed is VL and is given by
Vss ≤ VL≤ Vsd
Where Vss is the shear wave velocity in the
surface layer and Vsd is the velocity in deeper
layers
Instructor: Liam Finn
 Early Warning Systems

• Question

• Early warning systems are based on the fact

that the P and S waves from an earthquake
source travel at different speeds.
• Describe how such a system might work.

Instructor: Liam Finn

 Primary Wave
𝑎 = 𝑎𝑚 sin 𝜔𝑡 − 𝐾𝑥
𝜔𝑡 − 𝑲𝑥 = 𝐶1
𝑑𝑥
𝜔−𝑲 =0
𝑑𝑡
𝑑𝑥 𝜔
= 𝑉𝑝 = (1)
𝑑𝑡 𝑲

x = direction of propagation, Vp = wave speed

Let
𝑦𝑝 = 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑔𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑝𝑎𝑡ℎ
𝑦𝑝 = 𝐴 sin 𝜔𝑡 − 𝑲𝑥

Particle Velocity 𝜈𝑝
𝜕𝑦𝑝
𝜈𝑝 = = 𝜔𝐴 cos 𝜔𝑡 − 𝑲𝑥
𝜕𝑡
Instructor: Liam Finn
 Instructor: Liam Finn

Primary Wave
Therefore:
𝜈𝑝
𝐴 cos 𝜔𝑡 − 𝑲𝑥 = (2)
𝜔

The Strain in the ground, 𝜀𝑥 , is given by:

𝜕𝑦𝑝
𝜀𝑥 = = −𝑲𝐴 cos 𝜔𝑡 − 𝑲𝑥 (3)
𝜕𝑥
Combining equations: (1) and (3)
𝑲 𝜈𝑝
𝜀𝑥 = − 𝜈 =−
𝜔 𝑝 𝑽𝑝
𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦
The result may be expressed as: 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛 =
𝑤𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦

The particle velocity and the wave velocity have to be in the same direction.
Sometimes the wave velocity is the “apparent wave velocity”, not the actual
wave velocity. See below for an example that explains this.
 Instructor: Liam Finn

Strains in Buried Pile

Assumed that there is no slip between the pipe and the ground.
Thus, for compression waves along the pipe:
𝜈𝑝
𝜀𝑝𝑖𝑝𝑒 = 𝜀𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 =
𝑽𝑝

When the wave is propagating at an angle, θ, to a pipeline the same formula for strain can
be employed provided the particle velocity is resolved parallel to the pipe and the apparent
wave velocity along the pipe is substituted for the wave propagation velocity.

The apparent propagation velocity along the pipe is:

𝑉𝑎 = 𝑉𝑝 sec 𝜃
Particle velocity in the direction of the pipe is:
𝑣𝑎 = 𝑣𝑝 cos 𝜃

Therefore, the maximum strain in the pipe is:

𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑣𝑝 𝑐𝑜𝑠 2 𝜃
𝜀𝑎 = =
𝑤𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑉𝑝

The axial strain is a maximum at 𝜃 = 0°

Shear/secondary Wave

Instructor: Liam Finn

Rayleigh Wave

Instructor: Liam Finn

 Instructor: Liam Finn

Boundary Conditions

Fixed end Free end