Studying the Effect of Microscopic Medium Inhomogeneity on the Propagation of Surface Waves

Abstract

Based on the analysis of literature data, it has been shown that a system of microcracks rapidly nucleates and develops in a surface layer of several grain sizes under fatigue loading. This brings about changes in the elastic modulus and density of the material. These can be described in the form of material’s effective characteristics.

The problem of the propagation of a surface wave has been solved for a microscopically inhomogeneous medium with dispersion and insignificant surface-layer variations. Using the example of testing 08Kh18N10T steel samples for low-cycle fatigue, it has been shown that the propagation speed of surface waves changes at a higher rate than that of bulk (longitudinal and shear) waves; this can be used in the tasks of testing materials at early stages of fatigue failure.