2019

Soil Dynamics
Propagation of Rayleigh Wave

PREPARED BY:
1. Fekadu Wubetu
2. Yohannes Eshetu
3. Banchiamlak
4. Abraham Yimam
19-Feb-19
 Propagation of Rayleigh Wave February 19, 2019

Contents
List of Table .................................................................................................................................................. 2
Figure ............................................................................................................................................................ 2
1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 3
2.Rayleigh waves .......................................................................................................................................... 4
2.1 Particle motion at the surface .......................................................................................................... 6
2.2 Solution for Rayleigh waves ............................................................................................................... 9
2.3 Rayleigh wave velocity .................................................................................................................... 13
2.4 Rayleigh wave displacement amplitude ........................................................................................ 15
2.5 Rayleigh wave dispersion ............................................................................................................... 17
2.6 Rayleigh waves in non-destructive testing....................................................................................... 18
2.7 Rayleigh waves in electronic devices ............................................................................................. 18
2.8 Rayleigh waves in geophysics ......................................................................................................... 18
2.8.1 Rayleigh waves from earthquakes ............................................................................................. 18
2.8.2 Rayleigh waves in seismology ................................................................................................... 20
2.9 Other manifestations ..................................................................................................................... 20
Bibliography ................................................................................................................................................ 21

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List of Table
Table 1: Body waves, surface waves and free oscillation equivalencies ...................................................... 3

Figure
Figure 2. 1: Free-surface interactions of an incident P and S wave .............................................................. 4
Figure 2. 2: Evanescent waves; left evanescent P wave; right evanescent S wave....................................... 5
Figure 2.3 : particle motion ........................................................................................................................... 7
Figure 2. 4 :Elliptical particle motion for Rayleigh wave propagation ......................................................... 8
Figure 2. 5: Rayleigh wave propagation concept in a layered half-space ..................................................... 9
Figure 2. 6: Motion induced by a typical plane wave that propagates in the x- direction. wave motion does
not vary in the y direction. .......................................................................................................................... 10
Figure 2. 7: the vertical and horizontal amplitudes for different Poisson’s ratio ...................................... 16
Figure2. 8: Dispersion of Rayleigh waves in a thin gold film on glass ...................................................... 17
Figure2. 9: Rayleigh wave direction ........................................................................................................... 19

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1. Introduction

The earth is obviously not an infinite body. It is a very large sphere with an outer surface in
which stresses cannot exist. For near surface earth quake engineering problems, the earth is often
idealized as a semi-infinite body with a planar free surface (the effects of the earth’s curvature
are neglected).The boundary conditions associated with the free surface allow additional
solutions to the equations of motion to be obtained. These solutions describe waves whose
motion is concentrated in a shallow zone near the free surface (i.e., surface waves). Since
earthquake engineering is concerned with the effects of earthquake on humans and their
environment, which are located on or very near the earth’s surface, and since they attenuate with
distance more slowly than body waves, surface waves are very important.

The surface waves are caused by the interaction of body waves with the free surface. Surface
waves propagate along the Earth’s surface. This seems like a rather trivial statement but it has
important implications for the amplitude of surface waves. The cylindrical expansion of the wave
front of the waves along the Earth’s surface implies that the energy of surface waves decreases
as , with r the distance between the source and the position of the wave front. The amplitude
of surface waves, related to the square root of the energy, therefore falls of as 1/r2.

Two types of surface waves are of primary importance in earthquake engineering. One, the
Rayleigh wave, can be shown to exist in homogeneous, elastic half space Specifically, the
interaction of the P-SV field with the free surface (after Lord Rayleigh, 1842-1919). The other
surface wave, the love wave, requires a surficial layer of lowers wave velocity than the
underlying half space. Other types of surface waves exist but are much less significant from an
earthquake engineering stand point.

Table 1: Body waves, surface waves and free oscillation equivalencies

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2.Rayleigh waves
Waves that exist near the surface of a homogeneous elastic half space were first investigated by
Rayleigh (1985) and are known to this date as Rayleigh waves. Interference between P and SV
waves near the free surface causes a type of displacement known as Rayleigh waves. Rayleigh
waves include both longitudinal and transverse motions that decrease exponentially in
amplitude as distance from the surface increases. There is a phase difference between these
component motions Since the SV wave speed β is smaller than the P wave speed α there is an
angle of incidence for an incoming SV wave that produces a critically refracted P wave, which
propagates horizontally along the interface (see Fig. 2.1) In other words, P-wave energy is
trapped along the surface in a natural way, i.e., it does not require any particular wave speed
variations at depth (Rayleigh waves can, in principle, exist in a half space). To conserve energy
the amplitude of the horizontally propagating P wave must decrease with depth and vanish at
some point, i.e., a critically refracted P wave is an evanescent wave.

Figure 2. 1: Free-surface interactions of an incident P and S wave

Along the interface the critically refracted P-wave exists simultaneously with the incident SV-
wave; in fact, the evanescent P-waves alone do not satisfy the stress-free boundary conditions
and they cannot propagate along the interface without coupling to SV. The interference of P and
SV-wave produces a particle Motion in the x−z plane that is retrograde at shallow depth, that is
the in-plane motion of a particle is counterclockwise when the wave travels from left to right.

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At greater depths the particle motion becomes prograde. In addition, the motion amplitude
decays and the eccentricity changes as the depth into the material increase. (see Fig. 4.20).

Rayleigh waves have a speed slightly less than shear waves by a factor dependent on the
elasti c constants of the material. The typical speed of Rayleigh waves in metals is of the
order of 2–5 km/s, and the typical Rayleigh speed in the ground is of the order of 50–300 m/s.
For linear elastic materials with positive Poisson ratio(v > 0), the Rayleigh wave speed can
be approximated as:

Since Rayleigh waves are confined near the surface, their in-plane amplitude when
generated by a point source decays only as 1/r0.5 where r is the radial distance. Surface
waves therefore decay more slowly with distance than do bulk waves, which spread out in three
dimensions from a point source. This slow decay is one reason why they are of particular
interest to seismologists. Rayleigh waves can circle the globe multiple times after a large
earthquake and still be measurably large.

Figure 2. 2: Evanescent waves; left evanescent P wave; right evanescent S wave.

Amplitude decays exponentially with increasing distance from the interface.From analysis of a
displacement potential Φ it can be shown that the amplitude A (z) of a horizontally propagating.
Critically refracted P-wave decays with increasing depth.

Consider the potential

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With k the wave number vector and p and ήc the horizontal and vertical components of the P-
wave slowness. From the vector properties of the slowness it follows that p2 + ήc = 1/α2. The
horizontal slowness p(the ray parameter!), is constant for the entire wave field generated by the
incoming SV wave, which has a wave speed β< α. In the case that p= 1/c >1/α then

So that

A similar expression can be given for the SV- wave, with ήβ instead of ήα the fact that the
argument of the exponential component of the amplitude factor is real has important implications
for the admissible wave speeds. Since the wave number ήw = kz is related to [k] = 2π/ƛ, with ƛ
the wavelength, it also follows that the amplitude decay with depth is larger for small wave
lengths than for long wave lengths, and this is of fundamental importance for the understanding
of the dispersion of surface waves. (NB the horizontally propagating, evanescent P-wave must
interface everywhere with SV- waves; this can be achieved if there is an incoming SV-wave field
but for Rayleigh waves the evanescent p-wave interferes with a horizontally propagating. And
thus also evanescent, SV-wave.)

2.1 Particle motion at the surface

In addition to predicting the order of arrival of waves along the surface, detailed studies were
made by Lamb (1904) of surface motion that occurs long distances away from a point source at
the surface of an ideal medium.

If a point source acts at the surface of an elastic half space, the disturbance spreads out in the
form of symmetrical annular waves. The initial form of these waves will depend on the input
impulse; if the input is of short duration, then the characteristic waves shown in fig.3.12a will
develop (richart, hall, and Woods, 1970). These waves have three salient features that correspond

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to the arrivals of the P wave, S wave, and Rayleigh (R) wave. The horizontal and vertical
components of particle motion are shown separately in fig 2.3 a and b. respectively.

Figure 2.3 : particle motion

A particle at the surface first undergoes an oscillatory lateral displacement on the arrival of the p
wave, followed by a relatively quiet period leading up to another oscillation at the arrival of the S
wave. This is followed by an oscillation of much larger magnitude when the R wave arrives.

The time interval between wave arrivals becomes greater and the amplitude of the oscillations
becomes smaller with increasing distance from the source. In addition, P-wave and S-wave

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amplitude decays more rapidly than that of an R wave. Therefore, the R wave is the most
significant disturbance along the surface of an elastic half space and, at large distances from the
source, may be the only clearly distinguishable wave.

If the horizontal and vertical components of the particle motion starting at point A in fig 2.3 a
and b are combined, the locus of surface-particle motion for the R wave can be drawn as shown
in fig. 2.3 c. The path of the particle motion describes a retrograde ellipse

Figure 2. 4 :Elliptical particle motion for Rayleigh wave propagation

The Rayleigh wave can thus be observed at both the vertical (in the direction of z) and horizontal
(radial, i.e., in the direction of x) components of the displacement field (see also Fig. 4.21)

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The interactions between body waves (i.e., compressional and shear waves) propagating inside
a layered medium may cause Rayleigh waves to propagate parallel to the stress-free boundary of
the medium, as shown in fig . Rayleigh waves include motion in both the longitudinal and
transverse directions, in particular a two-dimensional rolling motion along the x1-x2 plane. The
amplitude of the propagating surface wave decreases as x2 increases in the substrate, while there
is a standing wave in the top layer. The wave amplitude decreases as x1 increases because of
dissipation in the viscoelastic materials.

Rolls along the ground just like a wave rolls across a lake or an ocean. Because it rolls, it moves
the ground up and down and side-to-side in the same direction that the wave is moving. Most of
the shaking felt from an earthquake is due to the Rayleigh wave, which can be much larger than
the other waves.

Figure 2. 5: Rayleigh wave propagation concept in a layered half-space

In the substrate, the amplitude of the propagating surface wave decreases as x2 increases. The
amplitude decreases as x1 increases because of the dissipative behavior of the viscoelastic
medium. The particles undergo elliptical motion. The motion direction is counter clockwise
when the wave propagates from left to right.

2.2 Solution for Rayleigh waves

To describe Rayleigh waves, consider a plane wave (figure 2.6) that travels in the x-direction
with zero particle displacement in the Y direction (V = 0). The Z direction is taken as positive
down-ward, so all particle motion occurs in the x-z plane. Two potential functions, Φ and Ψ, can
be defined to describe the displacements in the X and Z directions:

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The volumetric strain, or dilatation, e of the wave is given by ε = εxx + εzz, or

…….1

…….2

Figure 2. 6: Motion induced by a typical plane wave that propagates in the x- direction. wave
motion does not vary in the y direction.

Use of the potential functions allows separation of the effect of dilatation and rotation [i.e.
equations 1 and 2 indicate that Φ and Ψ are associated with dilatation and rotation, respectively].
Therefore, Rayleigh waves can be thought of as combinations of P and S waves (SV waves for
this case, since the XZ plane is vertical) that satisfy certain boundary conditions. Substitution of
the expression for u and w in the equations of motion as written in the equations

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………………3

And

……………….4

Gives

…………………5a

……………..5b

Solving equations (5) simultaneously for ⁄ and ⁄ shows

………….6a

………………..6b

If the wave is harmonic with frequency ω and wave number kR, so that it propagates with Rayleigh wave
velocity , the potential functions can be expressed as

( )
( )

Where F and G are functions that describe the manner in which the amplitude of the dilatational and
rotational components of Rayleigh wave vary with depth. Substituting these expressions for ø and ψ into
equations gives

( )
( ) ( )

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( )
( ) ( )

Which can be rearranged to give the second order differential equations

( )

( )

The general solution to this equation can be written in the form of

( )

( )

Where A1, A2, B1, and B2 are constants.

The second term of equation corresponds to a disturbance whose displacement amplitude

approaches infinity with increasing depth. Which is not the type of wave that is considered here,
B1 and B2 must be zero and the potential function can finally be written as?

( )

( )

Since neither shear nor normal stress can exist at the free surface of the half space, and

. Therefore

, The dilation be defined as

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( )

Using the potential function definition of u and w equation and the solution for the potential
functions equation, the free surface boundary conditions can be rewritten as

( ) ( )

( ) ( )

This can be rearranged to yield

( )

With this result, the velocity and displacement patterns of Rayleigh wave can be determined

2.3 Rayleigh wave velocity

The velocity at which Rayleigh waves travel is of interest in geotechnical earth quake
engineering. Rayleigh waves are often mechanically generated and their velocities measured in
the field to investigate the stiffness of surficial soil. ( ( )

Which upon introducing the definitions of q and s and factoring out a term, yields

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( )( ) ( ) ( )

Defining as a functions of Rayleigh wave velocity to s-wave velocity

Where √ ( ) √( ) ( ) . Then equation [] can be rewritten as

( )( ) ( ) ( )

Which can be rearranged and expanded into the equation

( ) ( )

This equation is cubic in , and real solutions for can be found for various values of
Poisson’s ratio. This allows evaluation of the ratios of the Rayleigh wave velocity to both s and p
wave velocities as functions of Poisson’s ratio ( ). The solution shown in figure below shows
that Rayleigh waves travel slightly slower than s-waves for all values of Poisson’s ratio except
0.5.

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2.4 Rayleigh wave displacement amplitude

The above section showed that the velocity of Rayleigh wave compares with that of p- and s-
waves. Some of the intermediate results of that section can be used to illustrate the nature of
motion during the passage of Rayleigh waves. Substitute for the potential functions (equation
()) in to the expression for u and w equation () and carrying out the necessary partial
differentiation yields

( ) ( )

( ) ( )

From equation ()

Which substituting in to equation () gives

( )
( )

( )
( )

Where the terms in parentheses describe the variation of the amplitude of u and w with depth .
This horizontal and vertical displacement amplitude is illustrated for several value of Poisson’s
ratio figure 5.10. Examination of equation () indicates that the horizontal and vertical
displacement are out of phase by . Hence the horizontal displacement will be zero when the
vertical displacement reaches its maximum (or minimum), and vice versa. The motion of particle
near the surface of the half-space is in the form of retrograde ellipse (as opposed to the pro-grade
ellipse particle motion observed at the surface of the water waves). The general nature of
Rayleigh wave motion was illustrated in figure below.

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Figure 2. 7: the vertical and horizontal amplitudes for different Poisson’s ratio
Horizontal and vertical motion of Rayleigh wave. A negative amplitude ratio indicates that the
displacement is in the opposite of the surface.

The Rayleigh waves produced by earthquake were once thought to appear only at very large epi
central distance (several hundred Km). it is now now recognized, however that they can be
significant at much shorter distance ( a few tens of km). the ratio of epi-central distance, R to
focal depth, h, at which Rayleigh waves first appear in homogeneous medium is given by

√( )

Where are the wave propagation velocities of p-wave and Rayleigh wave, respectively
(Ewing et al…, 1957)

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2.5 Rayleigh wave dispersion

In isotropic, linear elastic materials described by Lame coefficients and µ , Rayleigh
waves have a speed given by solutions to the equation

Since this
equation has no inherent scale, the boundary value problem giving rise to Rayleigh waves are
dispersion less. An interesting special case is the Poisson solid, for which =µ, since this gives
a frequency-independent phase velocity equal to √

The elastic constants often change with depth, due to the changing properties of the material.
This means that the velocity of a Rayleigh wave in practice becomes dependent on the
wavelength (and therefore frequency ), a phenomenon referred to as dispersion. Waves affected
by dispersion have a different wave train shape.1
Rayleigh waves on ideal, homogeneous and flat elastic solids show no dispersion, as stated
above. However, if a solid or structure has a density or sound velocity that varies with depth,
Rayleigh waves become dispersive. One example is Rayleigh waves on the Earth's surface:
those waves with a higher frequency travel more slowly than those with a lower frequency .
This occurs because a Rayleigh wave of lower frequency has a relatively long wavelength .
The displacement of long wavelength waves penetrates more deeply into the Earth than
short wavelength waves. Since the speed of waves in the Earth increases with increasing
depth, the longer wavelength (low frequency ) waves can travel faster than the shorter
wavelength (high frequency ) waves. Rayleigh waves thus often appear spread out on
seismograms recorded at distant earth quake recording stations. It is also possible to observe
Rayleigh wave dispersion in thin films or multi-layered structures.

Figure2. 8: Dispersion of Rayleigh waves in a thin gold film on glass

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2.6 Rayleigh waves in non-destructive testing

Rayleigh waves are widely used for materials characterization, to discover the mechanical
and structural properties of the object being tested – like the presence of cracking, and the
related shear modulus. This is in common with other types of surface waves.

The Rayleigh waves used for this purpose are in the ultrasonic frequency range. They are used at
different length scales because they are easily generated and detected on the free surface of solid
objects. Since they are confined in the vicinity of the free surface within a depth (~ the
wavelength) linked to the frequency of the wave, different frequencies can be used for
characterization at different length scales.

2.7 Rayleigh waves in electronic devices

Rayleigh waves propagating at high ultrasonic frequencies (10–1000 MHz) are used widely
in different electronic devices.

In addition to Rayleigh waves, some other types of surface acoustic waves (SAW), e.g. Love
waves, are also used for this purpose. Examples of electronic devices using Rayleigh waves are
filters, resonators, oscillators, sensors of pressure, temperature, humidity, etc. Operation of SAW
devices is based on the transformation of the initial electric signal into a surface wave that,
after achieving the required changes to the spectrum of the initial electric signal as a
result of its interaction with different types of surface inhomogeneity ,is transformed back
into a modified electric signal. The transformation of the initial electric energy into mechanical
energy (in the form of SAW) and back is usually accomplished via the use of
piezoelectric materials for both generation and reception of Rayleigh waves as well as for
their propagation.

2.8 Rayleigh waves in geophysics

2.8.1 Rayleigh waves from earthquakes
Because Rayleigh waves are surface waves, the amplitude of such waves generated by
an earthquake generally decreases exponentially with the depth of the hypocenter
(focus).However, large earthquakes may generate Rayleigh waves that travel around the Earth
several times before dissipating.

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In seismology longitudinal and shear waves are known as P-waves and S- waves, respectively,
and are termed body waves. Rayleigh waves are generated by the interaction of P- and S- waves
at the surface of the earth, and travel with a velocity that is lower than the P-, S-, and Love wave
velocities. Rayleigh waves emanating outward from the epicenter of an earthquake travel along
the surface of the earth at about 10 times the speed of sound in air (0.340 km/s), that is ~3 km/s.

Due to their higher speed, the P- and S-waves generated by an earthquake arrive before the
surface waves. However, the particle motion of surface waves is larger than that of body waves,
so the surface waves tend to cause more damage. In the case of Rayleigh waves, the motion is of
a rolling nature, similar to an ocean surface wave. The intensity of Rayleigh wave shaking at a
particular location is dependent on several factors:

 The size of the earthquake.

 The distance to the earthquake.
 The depth of the earthquake.
 The geologic structure of the crust.
 The focal mechanism of the earthquake.
 The rupture directivity of the earthquake.

Local geologic structure can serve to focus or defocus Rayleigh waves, leading to significant
differences in shaking over short distances.

Figure2. 9: Rayleigh wave direction

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2.8.2 Rayleigh waves in seismology

Low frequency Rayleigh waves generated during earthquakes is used in seismology to
characterize the Earth's interior. In intermediate ranges, Rayleigh waves are used in geophysics
and geotechnical engineering for the characterization of oil deposits.

These applications are based on the geometric dispersion of Rayleigh waves and on the solution
of an inverse problem on the basis of seismic data collected on the ground surface using active
sources (falling weights, hammers or small explosions, for example)or by recording micro
tremors. Rayleigh ground waves are important also for environmental noise and vibration
control since they make a major contribution to traffic-induced ground vibrations and the
associated structure-borne noise in buildings.

2.9 Other manifestations

Animals

Low frequency (< 20 Hz) Rayleigh waves are inaudible, yet they can be detected by many
mammals , birds , insects and spiders .

Humans should be able to detect such Rayleigh waves through their Pacinian corpuscles ,
which are in the joints, although people do not seem to consciously respond to the signals.
Some animals seem to use Rayleigh waves to communicate. In particular, some biologists
theorize that elephants may use vocalizations to generate Rayleigh waves. Since Rayleigh waves
decay slowly, they should be detectable over long distances.

Note that these Rayleigh waves have a much higher frequency than Rayleigh waves generated by
earthquakes.

After the 2004 Indian Ocean earth quake, some people have speculated that Rayleigh waves
served as a warning to animals to seek higher ground, allowing them to escape the more
slowly traveling tsunami . At this time, evidence for this is mostly anecdotal. Other animal
early warning systems may rely on ability to sense infrasonic waves traveling through the air.

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Bibliography
1. Das, B. M. (2011). PRINCIPLES OF SOIL DYNAMIC.

2. (2013). In I. Viktorov, Rayleigh and Lamb W aves: Physical Theory and Applications.

3. Z. Alterman, H. Jarosch and C. L. Pekeris. (1980). Propagation of Rayleigh Waves in the Earth.

4. Steven Kramer(1996), Geotechnical Earth quake Engineering

5. " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rayleigh_wave&oldid=831336689

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