Lecture Notes

Fundamentals of
Elastic Wave Propagation
Rune M. Holt

NTNU, Trondheim, 2000

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Fundamentals of Elastic Wave Propagation

Table of contents
1.
2.
3.
4.

Linear Theory of Elasticity ...................................................................................3

The Wave Equation. ..............................................................................................7
P- and S-Waves.....................................................................................................10
Attenuation and Dispersion.................................................................................12

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1. Linear Theory of Elasticity

Fundamentally speaking, an elastic wave is a small amplitude, time harmonic stress or
strain, which propagates through space. Thus, in order to relate the characteristic
behaviour of the wave to the medium it travels through, we have to consider how the
medium responds to an applied time harmonic stress or strain. Since the amplitude is
considered to be small, we assume that the stresses and strains associated with the wave
are within the limits of linear theory of elasticity. Although it is supposed that all
students know in advance all details of elasticity theory, let us briefly remind about the
following definitions:
There are 2 types of stresses. These are normal stresses
Fn
= n
A

(1.1)

and shear stresses

Fp
A

=
(1.2)

where Fn denotes stress normal to a surface of area A, and Fp is a force parallel to a

surface of the same area. The unit of stress is therefore force per unit area; i.e. N/m2 or
Pa (Pascal). We frequently use the units
MPa=106 Pa
and

GPa=109 Pa.

Figure 1 illustrates these 2 stresses.

Figure 1: Illustration of normal and shear stress.

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Acting on any surface in a 3 dimensional space, we may have stress components

ij x , y , z ; yz , xz , xy
As with stress, we also have two associated types of strain (or deformation). That is
"normal" or elongational strain, and shear strain. The definition of elongational strain
can be made with reference to a purely uniaxial deformation state, in which strain is
defined as the relative length change of the element considered. This is examplified in
Figure 1.2. Here a line segment of initial length x is deformed so that the end points
are displaced with u(x) and u(x+x), respectively. The relative length change, or the
elongational strain is thus:

x =

u(x + x) u(x) u

x
x

(1.3)

where a Taylor expansion to the lowest order (i.e. u(x+x)=u(x)+(u/x)x) has been
inserted. Strain is a dimensionless unit, and we have chosen to denote >0 for
contraction.

Figure 1.2: Illustration of elongational and shear strain.

Shear strain can be defined with respect to the angular distortion resulting from the
application of a shearing stress. For a distortion angle in the xy-plane, the shear strain
is
xz =

1
1 u
u
tan (= ( x + z ))
2
2 z
x

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(1.4)

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Here the shear strain has also been expressed in terms of the displacement gradients
ux/y and uy/x. In analogy with the stresses, there are strain components associated
with deformation of a general surface in 3 dimensional space:

ij x , y , z ; yz , xz , xy
Stresses and strains are related: An applied force results in an instantanoeus
deformation, and vise versa. The simples stress - strain relationship is known as Hooke's
law of linear elasticity. For a solid, isotropic material, this can be written:

x =

1
x y z
E
E
E

y = x + y z
E

z =

y +

E z

yz =

1+
1
yz

E
2G yz

xz =

1+
1
xz

E
2G xz

xy =

1+
1
xy

E
2G xy

(1.5)

E and are Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio, respectively. They can be determined
from a uniaxial stress test; x = y = 0:

z = E z
(1.6)

x = y = z
The bulk modulus K (the inverse of the compressibility) describes the volumetric
deformation resulting from an applied hydrostatic stress; i.e. a situation where x = y
= z= :

= K v

(1.7)

where v is the volumetric strain = x +y + z. The shear modulus is in principle

determined from a direct shear test.

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The different elastic stiffness parameters E, , K, and G are not independent. In an

isotropic material, there are only 2 independent stiffness parameters, so we may choose
to work with any pair of elastic parameters that we would like. In seismic wave
propagation one often prefers the socalled Lam coefficients and G (G is still the
shear modulus). Hooke's law is then formulated as

x = ( + 2 G) x + y + z
y = x + ( + 2G) y + z

(1.8)

z = x + y + ( + 2 G) z
The relationship between the different parameters above are given in Table 1.1.
Table 1.1: Relationship between elastic parameters of an isotropic solid.

Modulus
Plane wave modulus*
H

Shear modulus G**

Bulk modulus K
Youngs modulus E

Lam coefficient
Poissons ratio

;G

+ 2G

H;G
H

2
3
G (3 + 2G )
+G

4
H G
3
G (3H 4G )
H G

H 2G

+ G

2( + G )

*
**

H 2G
2( H G )

K;G
4
K+ G
3
G

K
9 KG
3K + G
2
K G
3
3K 2G
2(3K + G )

or Uniaxial compaction modulus.

often the shear modulus is denoted by .

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E;
(1 )
E
(1 + )(1 2 )
1
E
2(1 + )
1
E
3(1 2 )
E

(1 + )(1 2 )

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2. The Wave Equation.

We shall now consider the force balance of a small volume element in dynamic
equlibrium; i.e. when acted upon by a time harmonic force. Newton's 2nd law states that
force is mass times acceleration. Here we consider the mass per unit volume (=density
) multiplied by the second derative of the particle displacement u with respect to time
(=accelaration), which has to be equal to the force per unit volume. Consider for
simplicity a situation where a small cube of edges x, y and z is acted upon by only
one force Fx, which is parallel to x, The difference between the force at x+x and x is
(by Taylor expansion of the stress at x+x :
F( x + x ) F ( x ) = [ x ( x + x ) x ( x )]yz

x
xyz
x

(2.1)

i.e. the force per unit volume is equal to the stress gradient. In static equilibrium, this
force difference must be equal to zero. In dynamic equilibrium, it has to be balanced by
the inertia term in Newton's second law; i.e.

2 ux x
=
t 2
x

(2.2)

Here ux is the particle displacement in the x-direction. In general terms, this can be
written

ij
2 ui
2 =
t
xj
j

(2.3)

Here ij can be the normal stresses xx = x etc. or the shear stresses xy etc. The stress
gradients can be related to the displacements through Hooke's law (Eq. 1.10 ) and the
relationship between strain and displacement (Eqs. 1.4 and 1.5). For the simple case of a
fluid, which is unable to transmit shear stress and therefore has no shear modulus
(G=0), Eq. (1.11) can be written (by choise we consider an applied force and a resulting
displacement in the x-direction):

2 ux
2 ux
=

t 2
x 2

(2.4)

This is a wave equation, which has the following solution:

u = u0 cos( t qx) = Re(e

j ( t qx)

(2.5)

It is in many cases beneficial to work with the complex exponential function rather than
with the cos and sine functions. In this equation, the following parameters have been
introduced:

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The angular frequency , which is related to the measurement frequency f:

= 2 f

(2.6)

q is the wavenumber. Considering a moving phase front (see Figure 2.1), the velocity of
a constant phase point is the phase velocity v, which is equal to:
v=

The wavelength is:

=

(2.7)

v 2
=
q
f

(2.8)

For the case of a fluid, inserting the solution (2.5) into Eq. (2.4) gives the sound
velocity:

v=

(2.9)

x=x1

t=t1

x=x2

t=t2

Figure 2.1:

Two snap-shots of a wavefront at times t1 and t2, illustrating how the

phase velocity is determined.

One should notice the distinction between phase velocity as illustrated above, and group
velocity. Waves are normally propagated as pulses. A pulse is a convolution between
the fundamental high frequency mode with frequency and wave number q, and a
carrier signal with frequency c<< and wavenumber qc<<q. Figure 2.2 shows an

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example of such a pulse. The signal can be expressed, within the time window where it
exists, as
S = cos ( t qx ) cos ( c t qc x )

(2.10)

By Taylor series expansion

1
c

q

The carrier signal (i.e. the modulated pulse) hence travels at a velocity

qc

vg =

c
qc

(2.11)

(2.12)

This is the group velocity. Since all energy is carried by the pulse, vg is also the velocity
that energy propagates with. If the medium is non-dispersive, i.e. if the phase velocity is
frequency independent, then phase and group velocities are equal. Otherwise they are
different, because the different frequency components of the pulse will travel at
different speeds.

Figure 2.2:

Amplitude modulated signal representing a transmitted acoustic pulse.

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3. P- and S-Waves
We shall now consider an isotropic solid material. In this case, shear stresses can no
longer be neglected. Assume that the particle motion is in the direction of x, i.e. ux0;
uy=uz=0. Hooke's law (Eq.(1.8) and (1.5)) gives

x = ( + 2 G ) x + ( y + z )
xy = 2G xy
xz = 2 G xz

(3.1)

The strains are related to displacements according to Eqs. (1.4) and (1.5). Inserting in
the wave equation Eq.(2.3) , we find:

2 ux
2 ux
2 ux 2 ux
=
(

+
2G)
+
G(
+
)
t 2
x 2
y2
z2

(3.2)

For a wave propagating in the x-direction (i.e. parallel to the direction of the
displacement), the solution to this equation must be of the form:
ux = ux0 cos(t qx)

(3.3)

Using the relationship in Eq.(2.7), the phase velocity of this wave is given as:

vP =

+ 2G

K+

4
G
3

(3.4)

where the subscript P denotes that this is a Primary wave; it is also denoted as
compressional or longitudinal. Eq. (3.2) has however solutions also for waves
propagating in the y- and in the z-directions; e.g.
ux = ux cos(t qy)
0

(3.5)

This is a wave with displacement perpendicular to the wave propagation direction. It is

called an S- (Secondary; or shear) wave. The resulting S-wave velocity is found as

vS =

Figure 3.1 illustrates the differences in wave motion between P- and S-waves.

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(3.6)

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Utilising the relationships between the various elastic constants given in Table 1.1, it is
straight-forward to calculate the relation between the elastic coefficients and the wave
velocities, using Eqs. (3.4) and (3.6). The results are given below:
G = v 2s
4
K = v 2p vs2
3

= v 2p 2 vs2
E=

vs2 (3v 2p 4 vs2 )

(v v )
2
p

2
s

v 2p 2vs2
2(v2p vs2 )

Particle motion in P-Wave

Direction of wave propagation

Particle motion in S-Wave

Figure 3.1:

Particle and wave motion associated with P- and S-waves.

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(3.7)

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4. Attenuation and Dispersion

Attenuation limits the range of sound propagation, but also contains important
information about rock properties.
Attenuation is a result of:

Geometrical spreading of wavefronts.

Absorption of energy.

The geometrical spreading depends on the nature of wave propagation. For a plane
wave, there is no geometric effect, while for a cylindrically spreading wave, the
amplitude will decrease as 1/r1/2 (r: distance from source). For a spherical wave, the
amplitude decreases as 1/r.
The absorption or "attenuation" coefficient for a plane wave is defined from the wave
solution:
u = u0 cos( t qx)e

(4.1)

The unit for absorption is (m-1). The most frequently used unit is dB/m. By definition:

[dB/m] = 8.686 [m-1]

(4.2)

It is also convenient to introduce the quality (Q-) factor

Q = /2v

(4.3)

Q-1 describes attenuation per wavelength.

Absorption is related to viscosity / viscoelasticity. Using the complex formulation (cos
ej(t-qx) ), the attenuation can be read as the negative imaginary part of the
wavenumber; i.e. with
q = qR + jqI

(4.4)

then

v=

qR

(4.5)

= qI
The absorption coefficient can be described mathematically in terms of the imaginary
parts of the elastic stiffnesses. Going back to the simple case of a fluid (Eq. (2.4)), let
the elastic coefficient

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= R + jI

(4.6)

Then, inserting the solution

u = u0e j ( t qx )
(4.7)
and assuming qI << qR and I << R, and separating real and imaginary parts, one finds:
v

= qI I R = I 3
2R 2 v

(4.8)

Notice that because of causality (action preceeds reaction), there is a fundamental

relation between the real and imaginary parts of the elastic coefficients. Thus,
attenuation and velocity dispersion are interrelated. A particular result of this is that a
frequency independent wave velocity implies zero absorption.
Physically, the imaginary part of the elastic modulus represents a viscous term.If is
interpreted as the Lam coefficient or bulk modulus of a liquid, then I is given by the
bulk viscosity multiplied by the angular frequency. A fluid has zero shear modulus, but
a finite shear viscosity , given by:

(4.9)
t
where is the shear stress, and is the shear strain rate. This corresponds to a purely
imaginary shear modulus

G = jGI = j

(4.10)

which, when inserted into the wave equation, gives a solution where

qR = qI =

(4.11)

This is a diffusional solution, where the wave is absorbed more or less completely after
having travelled one wavelength. qI-1 is often termed viscous skin depth ().

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