Reciprocity and Related Topics in Elastodynamics

Abstract

Reciprocity theorems in elasticity theory were discovered in the second half of the 19th century. For elastodynamics they provide interesting relations between two elastodynamic states, say states A and B. This paper will primarily review applications of reciprocity relations for time-harmonic elastodynamic states. The paper starts with a brief introduction to provide some historical and general background, and then proceeds in Sec. 2 to a brief discussion of static reciprocity for an elastic body. General comments on waves in solids are offered in Sec. 3, while Sec. 4 provides a brief summary of linearized elastodynamics. Reciprocity theorems are stated in Sec. 5. For some simple examples the concept of virtual waves is introduced in Sec. 6. A virtual wave is a wave motion that satisfies appropriate conditions on the boundaries and is a solution of the elastodynamic equations. It is shown that combining the desired solution as state A with a virtual wave as state B provides explicit results for state A. Basic elastodynamic states are discussed in Sec. 7. These states play an important role in the formulation of integral representations and integral equations, as shown in Sec. 8. Reciprocity in 1-D and full-space elastodynamics are discussed in Secs. 9,10, respectively. Applications to a half-space and a layer are reviewed in Secs. 11,12. Section 13 is concerned with reciprocity of coupled acousto-elastic systems. The paper is completed with a brief discussion of reciprocity for piezoelectric systems. There are 61 references cited in this review article.