Wave Propagation Fundamentals -1

Propagation of Plane and Spherical Waves

 Learning Objectives

Plane waves in fluids and solids

Elastic wave potentials

Spherical waves in fluids and solids

 Plane Waves - Fluid

Waves in a fluid satisfy the wave equation

2 1 2 p
 p 2 2 0
c t
p  f  t  x / c  is an arbitrary plane wave"pulse" solution
of the wave equation traveling in the + x direction.
The function p  F  f  exp  2 if  x / c  t   is a harmonic
plane wave traveling in the + x direction.

They are simply related through the Fourier Transform:

amplitude phase


f  t  x / c    F  f  exp  2 if  x / c  t   df

 Plane Waves-Fluid

we saw previously we can write a plane harmonic wave in

different forms:
F f  exp2if  x / c  t 
 F  f expik x  ct 
 F   expi  x / c  t 

For the last form we can also write

1 
f t  x / c   F  expi  x / c  t d
2 
 Plane Waves-Fluid
Summary: for a harmonic wave of exp it  time
dependency, a plane wave traveling in the  x direction
is given by (dropping the common time term)
F exp2i f x / c 
 F expi x / c 
 F expik x 

For a plane wave traveling in an arbitrary direction , n

n . x = constant F expikn  x
plane  F expik  x 
n

where k = k n
 Plane Waves - Fluid and Solid Media

Waves in a fluid are governed by the scalar wave equation

n (direction of propagation)
1 2 p
p  f t  x  n / c 
2
 p 2 2 0
c t

Waves in an isotropic elastic solid are governed by the

vector Navier's equations
u … displacement
u 2
 u       u   2  0
2
 … Lame constants
t  … density
 Plane Waves-Solid

 2
u
 u       u   2  0
2

t
Navier's equations also have plane wave solutions. There are
two types – P-waves and S-waves. These are "bulk" waves.
n
compressional
(P) waves u 
u  n f t  x  n / cp 
polarization
n
shear u  n  d g  t  x  n / cs 
(S) waves d u
 Plane Waves-Solid
Polarizations

Plane P-waves are longitudinally polarized

in the direction of propagation

SV
Plane S-waves are polarized in the plane
perpendicular to the direction of propagation.

SH Vertically polarized S-waves are called

SV-waves while horizontally polarized
S-waves are called SH waves
 Plane Waves-Solid
Bulk wave speeds

  2 E  1   E … Young's modulus
cp  
  1     1  2    … Poisson's ratio
G =  .. Shear Modulus
 G E
cs   
  2  1   
E
cbar 
Compressional wave speed in a bar 

E
Compressional wave speed in a plate c plate 
 1  v2  
 Plane Waves-Solid
2 u
 u       u   2  0
2

t
Although Navier's equations are not wave equations, solutions
to Navier's equations can be found in terms of potential functions
that do satisfy wave equations

u      ψ  … scalar potential
 … vector potential

1  2

  2 2 0
2
P-waves
c p t
1 ψ 2
 ψ 2 2 0
2 S-waves
cs t
 cp cs  cp
Material Compressional Shear Density Impedance
(S-wave)  (P-wave)
(P-wave) wave speed (kgm/m3 x 103) ( kgm/(m2-s)
wave speed (m/s x 103)
(m/s x 103) x 106)
Air 0.33 -- 0.0012 0.0004
Aluminum 6.42 3.04 2.70 17.33
Brass 4.70 2.10 8.64 40.6
Copper 5.01 2.27 8.93 44.6
Glass 5.64 3.28 2.24 13.1
Lucite 2.70 1.10 1.15 3.1
Nickel 5.60 3.00 8.84 49.5
Steel, mild 5.90 3.20 7.90 46.0
Titanium 6.10 3.10 4.48 27.3
Tungsten 5.20 2.90 19.40 101.0
Water 1.48 -- 1.00 1.48

Table D.1 Acoustical properties of some common materials.

 Plane Waves-Solid

Elastic Wave Potentials

u      
   x, y,t 
For two-dimensional waves
 z   x, y,t ,  x   y  0
displacements stresses
    2 2   2  2  
ux    xx       2   2 
x y   xy y  
   2 2   2  2  
uy    yy       2   2 
y x   xy x  
uz  0   2  2  2 
 xy    2  2  2
cp  xy y x 

cs  zz    xx   yy  ,  xz   yz  0
 Plane Waves-Solid

Plane wave solutions

u x , vx , xx
P-waves k p   / cp
x

   exp  ik p x  i t  potential

u x  U x exp  ik p x  i t  displacement

vx  Vx exp  ik p x  i t  velocity
 xx  Txx exp  ik p x  i t  stress

U x  ik p , Vx  iU x ,
Txx    c pVx
 Plane Waves-Solid

S-waves
k s   / cs us , vs , xs
s
s  ex  t
x
ψ  t exp  iks x  i t  potential
u  U s s exp  ik s x  i t  displacement
v  Vs s exp  ik s x  i t  velocity
 xs  Txs exp  iks x  i t  stress

U s  ik s  , Vs  iU s ,
Txs    csVs
 Spherical Waves-Fluid

Spherical waves arise physically from "point" sources. If a

point source emits waves uniformly in all directions, then we
expect the waves to depend only on the radial distance, r , from
the point source.

r
 Spherical Waves-Fluid
Consider spherical harmonic waves of exp(-it) time
dependency. The equation of motion of the fluid and the
wave equation are given by
p  i v
2 2
 p 2 p  0
c

In terms of the distance, r, from the source, in spherical

coordinates these equations are

p
 i vr
r
 2 p 2 p  2
2   2 p0
r r r c
 Spherical Waves-Fluid

There are two solutions of the wave equation of the

form A B
p expikr   expikr 
r r
k/c
The first term represents a wave traveling in the outward
radial direction while the second term represents a wave
converging on the source. Since the source only generates
outward going waves, we must set B = 0. The pressure and
radial velocity in the out going wave are then
A
p  expikr 
r
A  1 expikr 
vr  1
c  ikr 
  r
 Spherical Waves-Fluid

In many cases we are only interested in the waves many

wavelengths from the source, in which case kr >> 1 and we
can write approximately

expikr 
pA
r r
A expikr
vr 
c r

Compare this to a plane wave traveling in the +z direction where

p  A expikz  z
A
vz  expikz
c
 Spherical Waves-Elastic Solid

Spherical waves from point sources in an elastic solid have a

more complex structure in general, but for kr >>1 they are
similar to that of a fluid:
exp  ik p r  exp  ik s r 
uA B
r r

A || e r S-wave A
B
B  er P-wave
r
er