Inhomogeneous Waves in Solids and Fluids

Book excerpt: The book may be viewed as an introduction to time-harmonic waves in dissipative bodies, notably viscoelastic solids and fluids. The inhomogeneity of the waves, which is due to the fact that planes of constant phase are not parallel to planes of constant amplitude, is shown to be strictly related to the dissipativity of the medium. A preliminary analysis is performed on the propagation of inhomogeneous waves in unbounded media and of reflection and refraction at plane interfaces. Then emphasis is given to those features that are of significance for applications. In essence, they regard surface waves, scattering by (curved) obstacles, wave propagation in layered heterogeneous media, and ray methods. The pertinent mathematical techniques are discussed so as to make the book reasonably self-contained.