Transport in Porous Media 9:143 154, 1992. 9 1992 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

143

Rayleigh-Type Waves in a Water-Saturated Porous Half-Space with an Elastic Plate on Its Surface
RYSZARD STAROSZCZYK

Institute of Hydroengineering, Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Waryhskiego 17, 71-310 Szczecin, Poland
(Received: 26 June 1991; in final form: 25 July 1991)

Abstract. The paper deals with the plane problem of steady-state time harmonic vibrations of an infinite elastic plate resting on a water-saturated porous solid. The displacements of the plate are described by

means of the linear theory of small elastic oscillations. The motion of the two-phase medium is studied within the framework of Biot's linear theory of consolidation. The main interest is focused on the investigation of properties of the Rayleigh-type waves propagating alongside of the contact surface between the plate and the porous half-space. In particular, the dependence of the phase velocity and attenuation of the waves on the plate stiffness, mass coupling coefficient, and degree of saturation of the medium is studied. Besides, for the limiting case of an infinitely thin plate, the comparison of the wave characteristics is carried out with those of the pure Rayleigh waves.
Key words. Elastic plate, half-space, surface wave, wave propagation.

1. Introduction
The problem of the propagation of Rayleigh surface waves in a porous, water saturated half-space has been studied by several authors. Jones (1961) derived a secular equation of the problem under certain simplifications: the inertia coupling between the pore fluid and solid skeleton was neglected and Darcy's coefficient was assumed to be independent of frequency. For the case of nonviscid fluid, the conditions of existence of the surface waves were also discussed. Deresiewicz (1962) investigated the problem mentioned by applying Biot's (1956) field equations for a porous medium in their full form. Derived irrational dispersion equation turned out to be of the seventh degree, with complex coefficients being a function of dimensionless frequency parameter. Two limiting cases of vanishingly small and very large values of frequency were studied. Also, some results of numerical analysis of the variation of the phase velocity and the dissipation of wave energy per cycle with frequency were presented for the case of kerosene-saturated sandstone. Mei and Foda (1981, 1983) applied their boundary-layer theory to obtain an approximate solution of the problem in hand. In the all above papers, homogeneous boundary conditions of zero stresses at a free surface of the half-space were assumed and, as a consequence, displacements of the pore fluid and solid matrix were allowed to be mutually independent. In some cases, however, it may happen that both the

144

RYSZARD STAROSZCZYK

components of the medium are compelled to move together. Such a situation takes place, for example, when a thin layer of ice appears on the surface of a water-saturated porous medium. Or, a layer of impervious material (e.g. concrete) is overlaid on the free surface. This modification of the boundary conditions of the problem implies a change of the wave-propagation parameters compared to the pure Rayleigh waves, when the surface is free of stresses. In the present paper, the upper layer is assumed to be a thin, elastic plate. The considerations are confined to the linearized theory of small disturbances, and time-harmonic variations are taken into account. The motion of the poro-elastic medium is studied on the basis of the dynamic theory of consolidation established by Biot (1956). It is assumed that coupled vibrations of the plate and the medium occur (i.e. two-sided constraints are supposed) and no friction between the plate and the porous medium takes place. The main purpose of the research is to determine the phase velocity and attenuation of the waves propagating in the medium alongside of the plate. In accordance with derived analytical results, numerical computations were performed. Their aim was to investigate the influence of some parameters (stiffness of the plate, inertia coupling coefficient, and degree of saturation of the pores) on the wave-propagation parameters for a wide range of dimensionless frequencies.

2. Formulation and Solution of the Problem

The problem considered is depicted in Figure 1. An elastic plate of infinite length and thickness h lies on a water-saturated porous medium which occupies the half-space z >~ 0. It is assumed that the source of disturbance is situated at x ~ - ao and the surface wave propagates in the direction of the x-axis. The equation of vertical oscillations of the plate v(x) is taken in the form:
~4U ~2 U

D~

+ pph ~

= q(x, t),

(1)

where D denotes the bending stiffness of the plate, pp is its density, t denotes time, and q is the total load acting on the plate.

J:~

~p\\
i... ,...: , .: .: :. :.o]...: :-:.:."-...

z/e[ast ic plate ___ x,u,U

:. :. :, ., :-.....

. ." -."... . ." '.. ]...'X,p o rd us- hat f- prune

z,,LW,W......

Fig. 1. Coordinate axes for infinite elastic plate.

RAYLEIGH-TYPE WAVES IN POROUS HALF-SPACE

145

The equations governing the motion of the fluid-saturated porous solid are assumed according to Biot (1956): V2(p divu + Q div U) = ~ 5 (/911 div u + P12 div U) + bF(~c) div(u - U),

62 ~? V2(Q div u + R div U) = ~ 5 (P12 div u + P22 div U) - bFOc ) ~ div(u - U),

62
V2 rot u = ~

0
(Pll rot u + Pl2 rot U) + bFOc ) ~7 rot(u - U),

(2)

62 (/)12 rot U + P22 rot U) -- bF(~c)~t rot(u - U), 0= ~

where P = 2N + A and V2 is the Laplace operator. In the equations, u = [u, 0, w] r and U = [U, 0, W ] r denote the displacement vectors of the skeleton and the pore water, respectively. N, A, Q, and R are the elastic moduli of the medium. By means of them, the stress-strain relations take the form

rrU = 2Neij + g)ij(A div u + Q div U),

s = Q div u + R d i v U , with

(3)

eij= ~ (uij + blj,i)

(4)

where a o. denotes the stress tensor in the skeleton, s is the stress in the fluid, and 6u is the Kronecker symbol. On the assumption that the grains of the porous solid are incompressible, the coefficients in (3) may be written in terms of the commonly used elastic parameters:

N=G,

A=E.,--

(1 __//)2
n

2Gv +--, 1 - 2v

(5)

Q =Ew(1 - n ) ,

R =E.~n,

where G is the shear modulus of the medium, v is the Poisson ratio, Ew is the bulk modulus of elasticity of the pore water, and n is the porosity. If the entrainment of air in the pores occurs, then the modulus Ew is reduced to the value E~, according to Verruijt (1969):
1 1

E',,

Ew

Po

(6)

where P0 denotes the absolute pressure in the fluid and a is the coefficient of the air content in the pore fluid.

146

RYSZARD STAROSZCZYK

The parameters Ply, P12, and P22, appearing in (2), are the mass coefficients related to the real densities Ps and Pw of the solid skeleton and pore fluid, respectively, in accordance with the formulae:
Pll=(1--n)ps+Pa, P12 = - - P a , P22=npw+Pa .

(7)

The apparent mass coefficient pa was introduced by Biot (1956) to express the effect of the internal coupling of the motion of both the components of the poro-elastic solid. Applying the interpretation given by Kowalski (1983), this coefficient may be determined from the relation
Da = n D w

0~ 1--~'

(8)

with ~ being the ratio of the fluid imprisoned in the skeleton to the entire volume of the pore fluid. The dissipation function for the porous medium is written in (2) as a product of the damping coefficient b and the function F(x). The parameter b may be expressed by means of the commonly used filtration coefficient kf in the following way bn2pwg (9)

where g denotes the gravitational acceleration. The function F0r ) provides a frequency-dependent correction of frictional force between the fluid and the skeleton, and may be written in the form (Biot, 1956) 1 ~c 2T(tr
F(x) - 4 K + 2iT(x) ' (10)

with
_ i3/2j1

T(tr -

(i3/2/r Jo(i3/2~ ) ,

(11)

where Jo and J1 are the Bessel functions of the first kind and i denotes the imaginary unit. The nondimensional frequency parameter x, following the interpretation of Biot (1956), may be written by means of
1r = 6 ( f o k f / n g ) 1/2

where ~ denotes the angular frequency of vibrations, 6 is a certain structural parameter which depends on the geometry of the pores. The equations of motion (1) and (2) must be supplemented by the continuity conditions which should be satisfied at the contact surface z = 0: (a) the condition of coupling of the vertical displacements of the plate and the porous medium at the surface z = 0 v(x, t) = w(x, O, t), v(x, t) = W(x, O, t); (13)

RAYLEIGH-TYPE WAVES IN POROUS HALF-SPACE

147

(b) the condition of coupling of the vertical forces acting on the plate and the surface of the half-space z -- 0

q(x, t) = azz(X, O, t) + s(x, O, t);

(14)

(c) the condition of no friction between the plate and the porous medium, which means that the tangential stress axz in the medium vanishes at the contact surface z = 0

axz(x, 0, t) = 0;

(15)

(d) The Sommerfeld radiation condition to ensure decay of the displacements of the plate and the half-space, as x and z approach infinity. The solution of the problems discussed is constructed with the help of two scalar and two vector potentials, according to the Helmholtz resolution formula (Achenbach, 1973): u = grad (b + rot 4, (16) U = grad 9 + rot ~ , where q5 and q~ denote scalar potentials for the skeleton and the pore fluid: = [0, 0, 0] T and 9 = [0, T, 0] r are vector potentials for both components of the medium, respectively. Substitution of (16) into (2) yields, for the time harmonic vibrations, the following set of equations:
"cl,V2~b -t-"c12V2(D = - k 2 ( ~ ) , l ( b -/-~)120 ) 3i-k2/f(~

--0),
(17)

v2o = - k ~ ( 7 . 0 + ~l:~') + k~/f(O - ~'),

0 = -kr~(7~2O + ~::~) - k~(0 -

T).

In the above equations, the dimensionless elastic and dynamic parameters appear:

Tll = ~ ,
711 = - - , P

Q
"C12= H ,

R r22 = ~ , ~/22= - - , P

H=P+R+2Q, P22

(18) (19)

Pll

712 = - - , P

P12

with p being the density of the poro-elastic medium. Also, the dimensionless damping parameter f is introduced

f _ bF(tr
pco The wavenumbers kc and kr are defined by means of
6O (D

(20)

kc

Vc ,

kr

V,.

(21)

148

RYSZARD STAROSZCZYK

where Vc and Vr denote the reference velocities of the dilatational and rotational waves:
< =

Vr = , / U >

(22)

The appropriate solutions of Equations (17) are the following functions: ~b(x, z, t) = (B1 e ~1z + B2 e v2z)ei(O,,- kx),
O0(x, z, t) = (elB1 e - v l z + ezB2 e-vzz) ei(~ot kx),

(23)
~(x, z, t) = c e . . . . ei~O~,- kx),
9 (x, z, t) = erC e VrZe~(~

where Bx, B2, and C are constants, k is the wavenumber of the surface wave, Vm and Vr describe decay of the wave along the z-axis and are given by the relations
l~m ~ (/(2 \'~ - - /(2g "~c ~ m ] ~ ~/2~

Re vm ) 0, Rev~/>0.

1, 2, (24)

Vr = ( k 2 - - k 2 O r )

1/2,

The parameters el, e2, and er express the coupling between the potential functions for the skeleton and the pore fluid and may be written in the form
em = --(TllOm - - ]111 + i f ) / ( T l Z O m

-- ]112 - - /f),

m = 1, 2,

(25)

~r : --(]712 J- g)/(~22 -- g)"

The parameters O~, 0 2 , and Or, appearing in Equations (24), describe the velocities of the plane dilatational and rotational waves compared to the reference velocities (22). The parameters 0~ and 02 are the complex roots of the equation
02(T11~22 - - "(122) - - 0(2711 Y22 "~- "C22711 - - 2 " C 1 2 7 1 2 - - / f )
-{-

(26)
"~- 7111122 - - ]122 - - / f = O,

and O~ is given by
Or = (]111722 - - ]122 - - / f ) / ( ] 1 2 2
-- /f)" (27)

Inserting the functions (23) into (16) one can obtain the following expressions for the components of the displacement vectors w = k~( - #1B1 e ~12_ #292 e u2z _ i~C e . . . . ) e*(O,t-kx),
(28)

W = kr(

#lglBl e - vaz _ #292B 2 e

~2z _ i{erC e

~)

e i(~

By virtue of (28) and (3), one can derive the relations for the components of the stress tensor
a~ = -NkZ[(th - 2{2)B~ e

~ + (,2 - 2~2)B2 e-~2~ _ 2i~#~C e . . . . ] ei(O,, kx),

e

a = = - - N k 2 [ - 2i~(#1B1 e q~ + #2B2 s = -Nk](tl3B~

VzZ)"1-

(2~ 2 --

Or)C e - ~ z ] e ~(~'* kx),

e Vl~+ t/4B2 e ~*) e ~(~

(29)

RAYLEIGH-TYPE WAVES IN POROUS HALF-SPACE In the relations (28) and (29) the following dimensionless coefficients appear:
= k/k~,

149

#r

~- ( ~ 2

_ _

O r ) 1/2

#~ = (~2-c20m)1/2,
~1 = 0 1 ( g I 1 - F g l Z l 2 ) , ~3 = ~ 1 ( T 1 2 - t - g l g 2 2 ) ,

m = 1, 2 , c 2 =

N/H,
(30)

~2 = 02(711 -~ e2~12), ?]4 = 02('c12 -~ g2~722) 9

Substituting (14) into (l) and then eliminating the function v(x, t) from (l) and (13) one may write the equations
D ~4w(x,O,t) 02w(x,O,t) Ox 4 + pph ~t 2 ffzz(X , O, t) - s(x, O, t) = O,

(31)
W ( x , O, t) - w(x, O, t) = O.

Insertion of expressions (28) and (29) into (31) and (15) yields the following set of three algebraic equations:

I
X

t]1-~-/']3--#1,~--2~ 2,
#1(1 - - 81),

q2-}-g/4--#2,~--2ff 2,
#2(1 -- e2),

-- q(2#r

+ 2)
X

i(( 1 -- er) 2~ 2 -- Or

-- i~#1,

-- i~#2,

The function 2 depends on the relative ratios of the elastic moduli and the densities of the plate and the porous medium, according to the formula
.], __ E p
#3

f~
0 9

(32)

N 12(1 - v~)

if4 __ PP /7, p

(33)

where/7 = krh, Ep and vp are the Young modulus and the Poisson ratio of the plate material, respectively. Expanding the main determinant of the matrix of coefficients of (31), we obtain the secular equation of the problem considered:
#1#2(20r + 4(2#r)(el - e2) + #2(,1 + I/3 - 2~2)[2~2(er - e2)
- - #1 (/~2 "q- /74 - - 2 ~ 2 ) [ 2 ~ 2 ( g r -- gl) --

0r(1 - g2)] + (34)

0r(1

g l ) ] = 0.

The Sommerfeld radiation condition imposes the restrictions Re ~ > 0 and Im ~ < 0 on the complex roots of the dispersion Equation (34). To investigate the number of roots satisfying the latter relations it is convenient to apply the principle of the argument (Achenbach, 1973). Employing this principle, numerical computa-

150

RYSZARD STAROSZCZYK

tions were carried out. Because of the complicated form of (34), the analysis was performed within the finite domain 0 ~< Re ff <~ 10 4 and - 104 ~< Im ~ ~< 0 (instead of within the infinite one, what should be done). It was discovered that, in the considered finite domain, only one root of (34) exists. It is possible that there are other roots beyond of the analysed region. But in this case, the surface waves would have to propagate with the velocities of an order 10 - 4 times less compared to the velocity of the rotational waves. This seems to be physically meaningless so these possible roots are omitted in the analysis. Denoting the root of (34) as ~o, we may determine the following parameters of the surface wave: (a) the phase velocity vR, which in comparison to the reference velocity of the rotational wave (22) takes the form vR Vr 1 Re~0' (35)

(b) the dissipation coefficient /~ which describes the specific loss of the wave energy per one cycle fl = 1 -- e - 47zllrrt~'o/Re ~'0[. (36)

3. Numerical Examples and Conclusions

On the basis of the derived analytical solution, some numerical computations were performed. Because of the large number of parameters entering into the dispersion equation (34), it is difficult to carry out the analysis for the general case of an arbitrary porous material. Therefore, we confine our attention to only one chosen material, namely coarse sand. Concerning the porous material, the following data were used in the calculations: N = 3.75 x 10 9 P a , v = 1/3, n = 0.40, Ew= 2.3 x 109 Pa, k= 10 . 2 m/s, Ps = 2.65 x 103 kg/m 3, Pw = 1.0 x 103 kg/m 3, and the structural factor 6 2 = 8. The parameters of the plate were taken as those of concrete: Ep = 3 x 101~Pa, vp = 1/6, pp = 2.5 x 103 kg/m 3. Some obtained numerical results are presented below. Figures 2 and 3 illustrate the variation of the wave parameters as a function of the dimensionless frequency ~c and the plate thickness h. It is seen, that the presence of the elastic plate on the surface of the half-space considerably influences the phase velocity of the wave. We may note that, for every h > 0, a sharp increase of the velocity occurs for a certain, relatively small value of the frequency parameter x. This means that only for low frequencies ~: can we deal with the truly Rayleigh-type surface waves. For higher values of K, the plate behaves as practically undeformable and the problem then reduces to the problem of the propagation of the plane waves in the porous medium. From Figure 3 it follows that the dissipation coefficient/~ is independent of the thickness of the plate for dimensionless frequencies smaller than approximately 3. Only for higher values of ~c the dissipation curves differ substantially to one another.

RAYLEIGH-TYPE WAVES IN POROUS HALF-SPACE

151
/ /

1.04
1.02 1.00 0.98
,--r-

0.g4 0,92 0,90

I I I I I

10

Fig. 2. Nondime~sional phase velocity as a function of the frequency parameter ~ and the ptate thickness h.

COARSE 0,6

SAND

h=O20m

0.5

0.4

03

0.2

0.1

/
i

//

~ - ~

h:O.O~_m

'~

10

Fig. 3.

Dissipation coefficient fl as a function of the frequency parameter ~c and the plate thickness h.

152
I I I I I I I
I [

RYSZARD STAROSZCZYK

1.02
-

COARSE
-

SAND
surfoce

eC=0.0
I .t "" e(= 0.2
o(=04

free

1.00 0.98

- -

plate h=0/ ~-""~ / I" I I"

>~
>

o.9~
0.94
o.g2

o~= 0.2

o~= 0.4
0.90
I l I I I I I I I

10

o(=0,0 o(=0.2

1.02 1.00 0.98 it ~>~ 0.96

//

t~/"

. . . . . . .

_%_0 _
c(=0.0 c( = 0.2

0.94 0.92
c~=0.4

/
0.90
I I I L i I ; I I

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Fig. 4. Nondimensional phase velocity as a function of the frequency parameter ~ and the structural factor e.

Figures 4 and 5 depict the influence of the mass coefficient on the wave propagation parameters. Two cases are compared. The first one, when an infinitely thin plate (i.e. h ~ 0) rests on the surface z = 0, and the second one, when there is no plate on the surface z = 0 (i.e. we deal with the pure Rayleigh wave propagation along the free surface). For the latter case, the results of Deresiewicz (1962) are applied. Concerning the phase velocity, it is seen that the inertia coupling plays an important role for frequencies higher than approximately 3. As regards the dissipation coefficient/3, it is important only for frequencies near to which the parameter //reaches its maximum, i.e. for 1.5 ~ 5. Finally, in Figure 6, the dependence of the phase velocity of the surface wave on the air content coefficient is displayed. From this figure, it follows that the presence

R A Y L E I G H - T Y P E WAVES IN POROUS HALF-SPACE

i i [ i i t I i r

153

o~=04
COARSE 0,6 - SAND h=0

pLate

0.5

0.4

d?0.3

0.2

-----0.1
I I [ I I I F ] ]

-_-L
8 9 10 K

Fig. 5.

Dissipation coefficient/~ as a function of the frequency parameter ~ and the structural factor cr

1.01 1.00 0.99 0.98 "- 0.97 > 0.96 0.95 0.94 0.93

COARSE
a-air

SAND

content

Fig. 6.

Dependence of the wave velocity on the air content coefficient a.

of air in the pore fluid influences the wave velocity only for relatively small (approximately less than 2) values of the dimensionless frequency parameter ~c. Concerning the dissipation coefficient /~, the numerical results are practically indistinguishable for every air content coefficient a and, therefore, the plots are omitted.

154

RYSZARD STAROSZCZYK

It should be mentioned that similar results (in terms of the nondimensional quantities) have been obtained for the case of fine sand. The numerical values differ slightly (in limits of about 5%) from those of coarse sand, but the character of all the plots is practically the same.

References
Achenbach, J. D., 1973, Wave Propagation in Elastic Solids, North-Holland, Amsterdam, pp. 65, 189-191. Blot, M. A., 1956, Theory of propagation of elastic waves in a fluid-saturated porous solid, J. Acoust. Soe. Amer. 28, 168-191. Deresiewicz, H., 1962, The effect of boundaries on wave propagation in a liquid-filled porous solid. IV. Surface waves in a half-space, Bull. Seism. Soc. Amer. 52, 627 638. Foda, M. A. and Mei, C. C., 1983, A boundary layer theory for Rayleigh waves in porous fluid-filled halfspace, Internat. J. Soil Dynam. Earthquake Engrg 2, 62-65. Jones, J. P., 1961, Rayleigh waves in a porous, elastic, saturated solid. J. Aeoust. Soe. Amer. 33, 859 -962. Kowalski, S. J., 1983, Identification of the coefficients in the equation of motion for a fluid-saturated porous medium, Acta Mech. 47, 263-276. Mei, C. C. and Foda, M. A., 1981, Wave-induced responses in a fluid-filled poro-elastic solid with a free surface - a boundary layer theory, Geophys. J. R. Astron. Soe. 66, 597-631. Verruijt, A., 1969, Elastic storage of aquifers, in R. J. M. De Wiest (ed), Flow Through Porous Media, Academic Press, New York, pp. 331-376.