Surface Waves in Viscoelastic Media Under the Influence of Gravity

Abstract

In this paper formulae are derived for surface waves in a viscoelastic medium of Voigt type under the influence of gravity. The wave velocity equations are deduced from Biot's theory of stress by assuming that the effects of gravity are equivalent to a type of initial stress of a hydrostatic nature. The resulting equations are used to briefly investigate the particular surface waves of Rayleigh, Love and Stoneley type. In all cases the final results are in agreement with the corresponding classical results when the effects of gravity and viscosity are neglected.