Wave Motion 83 (2018) 202–213

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Wave Motion
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/wamot

Rayleigh waves in anisotropic porous media and the

polarization vector method
∗
Pham Chi Vinh a , , Abdelkrim Aoudia b , Vu Thi Ngoc Anh a
a
Faculty of Mathematics, Mechanics and Informatics, Hanoi University of Science, 334, Nguyen Trai Str., Thanh Xuan, Hanoi, Viet Nam
b
Earth System Physics Section, The Abdus Salam ICTP, I-34151, Trieste, Italy

highlights

• Rayleigh waves in orthotropic non-viscous fluid-saturated porous half-spaces are investigated.

• The surface of half-spaces is impervious or with sealed surface-pores.
• The secular equations in explicit form have been derived using the polarization vector method.
• The wave velocity depends strongly on the material parameters, the anisotropy and the boundary conditions.
• It may be larger, even much larger than the shear wave velocity.

article info a b s t r a c t

Article history: In this paper, the propagation of Rayleigh waves in orthotropic non-viscous fluid-saturated
Received 4 February 2018 porous half-spaces with sealed surface-pores and with impervious surface is investigated.
Received in revised form 9 August 2018 The main aim of the investigation is to derive explicit secular equations and based on
Accepted 10 September 2018
them to examine the effect of the material parameters and the boundary conditions on the
Available online 15 September 2018
propagation of Rayleigh waves. By employing the method of polarization vector the explicit
Keywords: secular equations have been derived. These equations recover the ones corresponding
Rayleigh waves to Rayleigh waves propagating in purely elastic half-spaces. It is shown from numerical
Orthotropic fluid-saturated porous media examples that the Rayleigh wave velocity depends strongly on the porosity, the elastic
Explicit secular equation constants, the anisotropy, the boundary conditions and it differs considerably from the one
The polarization vector method corresponding to purely elastic half-spaces. Remarkably, in the fluid saturated porous half-
spaces, Rayleigh waves may travel with a larger velocity than that of the shear wave, a fact
that is impossible for the purely elastic half-spaces.
© 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

The investigation of surface Rayleigh wave propagation in fluid-saturated porous half-spaces is significant in many
fields such as soil dynamics, earthquake engineering, geophysics and hydrology because the geological material can be
considered as a type of fluid-saturated porous material (FSPM). Recently, bones are also modeled as FSPM [1]. To solve
problems of FSPM one can used either the poroelasticity equations derived by Biot [2–4] or the equations obtained by using
the homogenization method [5–8]. Due to the latter, the porous material can be considered as a homogenized material. As
demonstrated in works [5–9], the equations derived by the homogenization method coincide with Biot’s equations when the
dimensionless viscosity of the fluid is small. In this paper, we will use the Biot model as the fluid is assumed to be non-viscus
and hence, the two models are equivalent.

∗ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: pcvinh@vnu.edu.vn (P.C. Vinh).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wavemoti.2018.09.009
0165-2125/© 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
 P.C. Vinh et al. / Wave Motion 83 (2018) 202–213 203

For any investigation of Rayleigh waves, finding the explicit secular equation that determines the Rayleigh wave velocity
is always the first and main purpose due to two reasons. First, the wave velocity is present in expressions of displacement
and stress of Rayleigh waves. Hence, these quantities can be determined only when the Rayleigh wave velocity is known.
Second, the explicit secular equations of Rayleigh waves are used as mathematical base to identify the material parameters
from the experimentally measured values of Rayleigh wave velocities.
The first explicit secular equation of Rayleigh waves propagating in fluid saturated porous half spaces was derived by
Johns [10] for the isotropic case with pervious boundary condition. However, one flaw in this secular equation is that only
one kind of longitudinal waves was accounted for in the expressions of displacement and stress. As we know, there are two
kind of longitudinal waves, fast and slow, for fluid saturated porous media. Tajuddin [11] obtained the correct explicit secular
equations of Rayleigh waves in isotropic fluid saturated porous half-spaces by considering both longitudinal waves. However,
these secular equations are still in determinant form, and therefore are not convenient in use. In Tajuddin’s investigation,
the surface of half-spaces was assumed to be pervious and impervious. The explicit secular equations in compact form of
Rayleigh waves propagating in isotropic fluid saturated porous half-spaces were derived by Yang [12] for the pervious (fully
opened) boundary condition and by Sharma [13] for pervious and fully closed surfaces.
The propagation of Rayleigh waves in anisotropic fluid saturated porous half-spaces was considered by Liu and Liu [14],
Liu et al. [15] for the transversely isotropic case, and by Liu and Liu [16] for the orthotropic case. The authors derived the
secular equations. However, all of them are in implicit form.
For the isotropic fluid saturated porous media, the characteristic equation (of six order) of Rayleigh waves can be
solved analytically, three (characteristic) solutions (among six) with positive imaginary parts can therefore be defined.
Consequently, the displacement and stress fields of Rayleigh waves that satisfy the decay condition can be derived explicitly.
Introducing their explicit expressions into the boundary conditions, one can obtain explicit secular equations of Rayleigh
waves, as demonstrated by Tajuddin [11], Yang [12], Sharma [13].
When the fluid saturated porous media are anisotropic, the situation is quite different: it is impossible to define a
characteristic solution which has positive imaginary part. Therefore, for the anisotropic case, the explicit secular equations
of Rayleigh waves cannot be derived by the conventional method as done by Tajuddin [11], Yang [12] and Sharma [13].
Recently, by using the method of polarization vector [17,18], one that is not based on the characteristic equation, Vinh
et al. [19] obtained the explicit secular equation of Rayleigh waves propagating in orthotropic non-viscous fluid-saturated
porous half-spaces whose surface are pervious.
In practical problems, the surface of fluid-saturated porous half-spaces may be pervious (fully opened) [11–13] or
impervious [11,20] or fully closed [13,20]. Therefore, it is necessary to get explicit secular equations of Rayleigh waves for
two remaining cases. To derive the explicit secular equations we also have to use the method of polarization vector because
the conventional method is not applicable, as mentioned above. The method of polarization vector is based on the Stroh
formalism [21] and the generalized polarization vector (the displacement-traction vector at the surface of half-spaces). For
the impervious surface case, the Stroh formalism is the same as the one for the pervious case (see Vinh et al. [19]), but the
generalized polarization vector is quite different from that of the pervious case. This difference makes the deriving of explicit
secular equation more complicated and more difficult. For the sealed surface-pores case, we have to establish a new Stroh
formalism so that the last three components of the generalized polarization vector vanish.
The obtained secular equations are purely real equations that recover the corresponding dispersion equations of Rayleigh
waves propagating in pure elastic half-spaces. Since obtained secular equations are totally explicit, they are very useful in
various practical applications.
Based on the obtained explicit secular equations, some numerical examples are carried out to demonstrate that the
Rayleigh wave velocity depends strongly on the porosity, the material parameters and the anisotropy and that it differs
considerably from the one corresponding to purely elastic half-spaces. It is also shown that the boundary conditions on the
surface of half-spaces have a significant impact on the Rayleigh wave propagation. Remarkably, it is shown that, for the elastic
fluid saturated porous half-spaces, the Rayleigh wave velocity may be larger than the shear wave velocity, a fact impossible for the
purely elastic half-spaces.

2. Basic equations and boundary conditions

Following Biot [3], the equations of motion for anisotropic non-viscous-fluid-saturated porous media can be written in
terms of Cartesian co-ordinates xk as (see also [16]):
ρf
σij,j = ρ üi + ρf ẅi , −p,i = ρf üi + ẅi , i = 1, 2, 3 (1)
φ
where a dot signifies differentiation with respect to t, a comma indicates differentiation with respect to spatial variables xk , p
is the pore pressure in the fluid assumed to be non-viscous, σij are the total stress components, Ui and ui are the displacement
components of the saturated pore fluid and the solid skeleton, respectively, φ is the reference porosity, wi = φ (Ui − ui ) is
the displacement components of the fluid relative to the solid skeleton, ρs and ρf are the densities of the solid skeleton and
the pore fluid and ρ = (1 − φ )ρs + φρf is the composite density. The constitutive equations for anisotropic non-viscous-
fluid-saturated porous media are of the form [16]:

σij = Aijkl ekl + Mij ζ , p = Mij eij + M ζ (2)

204 P.C. Vinh et al. / Wave Motion 83 (2018) 202–213

where ζ = −wi,i is the volumetric strain of the fluid, eij = (ui,j + uj,i )/2 are the strain components of the solid skeleton, Aijkl
(Aijkl = Ajikl = Aklij ), Mij (Mij = Mji ) and M are parameters for the anisotropic solid skeleton and pore fluid.
Suppose the non-viscous fluid-saturated porous solid occupies the half-space x3 ≥ 0. We are interested in the plane
motion that is independent of the variable x2 and u2 ≡ w2 ≡ 0. Then, the equations of motion (1) becomes:
σ11,1 + σ13,3 = ρ ü1 + ρf ẅ1 , σ31,1 + σ33,3 = ρ ü3 + ρf ẅ3 ,
ρf ρf
− p,1 = ρf ü1 + ẅ1 , −p,3 = ρf ü3 + ẅ3 (3)
φ φ
Let the porous medium is orthotropic, then the strain–stress relations (2) are simplified to [3,16]:
σ11 = A11 u1,1 + A13 u3,3 + M11 ζ ,
σ33 = A13 u1,1 + A33 u3,3 + M33 ζ ,
σ13 = A55 (u1,3 + u3,1 ),
p = M11 u1,1 + M33 u3,3 + M ζ (4)
where A11 , A13 , A33 , A55 , M11 , M33 and M are elastic parameters. The parameters Aij and Mij are given in terms of the elastic
constants of the solid skeleton Cij and Biot’s material parameters αk and M by [22,23]:

A11 = C11 + α12 M , A13 = C13 + α1 α3 M , A33 = C33 + α32 M ,

A55 = C55 , M11 = −α1 M , M33 = −α3 M , −ζ = w1,1 + w3,3 (5)
Let the surface of the half-space be impervious, then we have [11,20]:

σ3k = 0, p,3 = 0 at x3 = 0, k = 1, 2, 3 (6)

If the surface is fully closed (sealed), then the boundary condition is of the form [13,20]:

σ3k = 0, w3 = 0 at x3 = 0, k = 1, 2, 3 (7)
Along with the boundary conditions (6) or (7), the decay condition, namely:

uk = wk = σjk = p = 0 at x3 = +∞, k, j = 1, 2, 3 (8)

must be satisfied.

3. Rayleigh waves and Stroh formalism

Suppose in the half-space a Rayleigh wave travels in the x1 -direction with the velocity c (> 0), the wave number k (> 0)
and decays in the x3 -direction. Then, its displacements and stresses are sought in the form (see Vinh et al. [19]):
u1 = U1 (y)eik(x1 −ct) , u3 = U3 (y)eik(x1 −ct) , u2 = 0, w3 = −W (y)eik(x1 −ct) ,
σ31 = ikT1 (y)eik(x1 −ct) , σ33 = ikT3 (y)eik(x1 −ct) , σ32 = 0, p = ikP(y)eik(x1 −ct) (9)
where y = kx3 . Introducing (9) into Eqs. (3), (4) and taking into account (5) give the Stroh formalism (see also, Vinh et al. [19]):

ξ ’ = iNξ, 0 ≤ y < +∞ (10)

where the prime signifies differentiation with respect to y and:
U1 T1
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
U N1 N2
ξ= ,U= U3 ,T= T3 ,N= (11)
T K N4
W P
with:
0 −1 0 b1 0 0 d1 0 0
[ ] [ ] [ ]
N1 = a1 0 0 , N2 = 0 b2 b3 ,K= 0 d2 d3 , N4 = NT1 (12)
a2 0 0 0 b3 b4 0 d3 d4
and:
C13 α3 C13
a1 = − , a2 = α1 − − φ,
C33 C33
1 1 α3 φ α32 1
b1 = , b2 = , b3 = , b4 = , + −
C55 C33 C33 ρf c 2
C33 M
C2 ρf c 2
d1 = ρ̂ c 2 − C11 + 13 , d2 = ρ c 2 , d3 = −ρf c 2 , d4 = (13)
C33 φ
 P.C. Vinh et al. / Wave Motion 83 (2018) 202–213 205

Note that, from (12), the matrices Nk and K have the properties:
NT2 = N2 , KT = K, N4 = NT1 (14)
In view of (9) the decay conditions (8) take the form:
ξ (+∞) = 0 (15)
It follows from (10), (14) and (15) that [18]:
T
ξ̄ (0)Qn ξ (0) = 0, ∀n ∈ Z (16)
[ ]
0 I
where Qn = ÎNn , Î = with I is the identity matrix of order 3 and the bar indicates the complex conjugate. As Q
I 0
is a 6 × 6 matrix, there are only five independent fundamental equalities, according to the Cayley–Hamilton theorem. The
choice n = −2, −1, 1, 2, 3 seems to be the best.

4. Explicit secular equations

4.1. The case of impervious surface

For the impervious surface case, according to (6) and (9), the boundary conditions are of the form:
P ′ (0) = 0, T1 (0) = 0, T3 (0) = 0 (17)
From the last equation of (10) one can see that: P ′ (0) = 0 is equivalent to W (0) = φ U3 (0). This fact and (17) say that the
generalized polarization vector ξ (0) has the form:
ξ (0) = [U1 (0) U3 (0) φ U3 (0) 0 0 P(0)]T (18)

Remark 1. The generalized polarization vector given by (18) is quite different from the one for the fully opened surface-pores
case which has the form [19]: ξ (0) = [U1 (0) U3 (0) W (0) 0 0 0]T .
From (12), it is not difficult to see that Qn have the structures:
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
0 ∗ ∗ ∗ 0 0 ∗ 0 0 0 ∗ ∗
⎢ ∗ 0 0 0 ∗ ∗ ⎥ ⎢ 0 ∗ ∗ ∗ 0 0 ⎥
∗ 0 0 0 ∗ ∗ ⎢ 0 ∗ ∗ ∗ 0 0
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
⎥ and ⎢ 0 (19)
⎢ ⎥ ⎥
∗ 0 0 0 ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ 0 0
⎢ ⎥
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
⎣ 0 ∗ ∗ ∗ 0 0 ⎦ ⎣ ∗ 0 0 0 ∗ ∗ ⎦
0 ∗ ∗ ∗ 0 0 ∗ 0 0 0 ∗ ∗
with n = −2, 2 and n = −1, 1, 3, respectively.
Suppose U1 (0) ̸ = 0, then ξ (0) = U1 (0)[1 α φα 0 0 β]T where α = U3 (0)/U1 (0) := α = α1 + iα2 , β = P(0)/U1 (0) :=
β1 + iβ2 , α1 , α2 , β1 , β2 are real. Introducing ξ (0) into (16) for n = −2, 2 and taking into account the symmetry of matrix
Qn [18] yield the system:
(+2)
(q12 + φ q(13+2) )α1 + (q(26+2) + φ q(36+2) )(α1 β1 + α2 β2 ) = 0,
(−2)
(q12 + φ q(13−2) )α1 + (q(26−2) + φ q(36−2) )(α1 β1 + α2 β2 ) = 0 (20)
Following Ting [17], one can see that α1 = β2 = 0, Eqs. (20) are therefore satisfied.
Introducing (18) into (16) for n = −1, 1, 3 leads to the following system:
(1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1)
(r22 + 2φ r23 + φ 2 r33 )α22 + r66 β12 + 2r16 β1 = −r11 ,
∗
(r22 + 2φ r23
∗
+ φ 2 r33
∗
)α22 + r66
∗ 2
β1 + 2r16
∗
β1 = −r11
∗
,
(3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3)
(r22 + 2φ r23 + φ 2 r33 )α22 + r66 β12 + 2r16 β1 = −r11 (21)
(1) (3)
where the quantities rij , rij and rij are given by in Appendix A. Solving (21) for α , β and 2β1 we obtain:
∗ 2
2
2
1

∆1 ∆2 ∆3
α22 = , β12 = , 2β1 = (22)
∆ ∆ ∆
where:
⏐ (1) (1) (1) (1) (1)
⏐ r22 + 2φ r23 + φ 2 r33 (1) (1) (1)
⏐ ⏐ ⏐
r66 r16 ⏐ ⏐ −r11 r66 r16 ⏐
⏐ ⏐ ⏐ ⏐
⏐ ⏐ ⏐ ⏐
∆ = ⏐ r22 + 2φ r23 + φ 2 r33 ⏐ , ∆1 = ⏐ −r11
∗ ∗ ∗
⏐,
⏐ ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗
r66 r16 r66 r16
⏐ ⏐ ⏐
⏐ ⏐ ⏐ ⏐
⏐ ⏐ ⏐ ⏐
⏐ (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) ⏐ −r (3) (3) (3)
r22 + 2φ r23 + φ 2 r33 r66 r16 r66 r16
⏐ ⏐
11
206 P.C. Vinh et al. / Wave Motion 83 (2018) 202–213

(1) (1) (1) (1) (1)

r22 + 2φ r23 + φ 2 r33
⏐ ⏐
⏐ −r11 r16 ⏐
⏐ ⏐
⏐ ⏐
∆2 = ⏐ ∗
r22 + 2φ r23
∗
+ φ 2 r33
∗ ∗
−r11 ∗
r16 ⏐, (23)
⏐ ⏐
⏐ ⏐
⏐ ⏐
(3) (3) (3) (3) (3)
r22 + 2φ r23 + φ 2 r33 −r11 r16
⏐ ⏐
(1) (1) 2 (1) (1) (1)
+ 2φ +φ
⏐ ⏐
⏐ r22 r23 r33 r66 −r11 ⏐
⏐ ⏐
⏐ ⏐
∆3 = ⏐ ∗
r22 + 2φ r23
∗
+ φ 2 r33
∗ ∗
r66 ∗
−r11
⏐ ⏐
⏐
⏐ ⏐
⏐ ⏐
(3) (3) (3) (3) (3)
r22 + 2φ r23 + φ 2 r33 r66 −r11
⏐ ⏐

It follows immediately from the last two equation of (22):

∆23 − 4∆2 ∆ = 0 (24)
This equation is the secular equation of Rayleigh waves for the impervious boundary condition. It is totally explicit and is a
real equation.
It is not difficult to verify that Eq. (24) recovers the secular equation for a purely elastic half-space. Indeed, by multiplying
Eq. (24) by M 6 φ 4 and then taking the limit the resulting equation as M → 0 and φ → 0 we have:
(C55 − ρ c 2 )(C13
2
− C11 C33 + C33 ρ c 2 )2
ρ 2 c 4 (C11 − ρ c 2 ) − =0 (25)
C33 C55
According to Vinh and Ogden [24]:
0 < ρ c 2 < min{C11 , C55 }, C13
2
− C11 C33 + C33 ρ c 2 < 0 (26)
therefore Eq. (25) is equivalent to:
√ √
(C55 − ρ c 2 ) C13
2
− C33 (C11 − ρ c 2 ) + ρ c 2 (C11 − ρ c 2 )(C55 − ρ c 2 ) = 0
[ ]
C33 C55 (27)
that is the secular equation of Rayleigh waves in an orthotropic elastic half-space (see Eq. (2.17) in [24]).

4.2. The case of sealed surface-pores

For the case of sealed surface-pores, the boundary condition is given by (7), or equivalently according to (9):
T1 (0) = 0, T3 (0) = 0, W (0) = 0 (28)
From (28) the generalized polarization vector is of the form:
ξ (0) = [U1 (0) U3 (0) 0 0 0 P(0)]T (29)
T
We introduce a new state vector t = [U1 U3 P T1 T3 W ] that is established by interchanging the third and sixth components
of the vector ξ with each other. From (10), it is not difficult to see that in terms of t the Stroh formalism takes the form:

t′ = iN̂t, 0 ≤ y < +∞ (30)

where N̂ is created by interchanging the third and sixth rows, the third and sixth columns of matrix N with each other. In
particular, matrix N̂ is given by:
[ ]
N̂1 N̂2
N̂ = (31)
K̂ N̂4
where:
0 −1 0 b1 0 0 d1 0 a2
[ ] [ ] [ ]
T
N̂1 = a1 0 b3 , N̂2 = 0 b2 0 , K̂ = 0 d2 0 , N̂4 = N̂1 (32)
0 d3 0 0 0 d4 a2 0 b4
It is clear from (32) that:
T T T
N̂2 = N̂2 , K̂ = K̂, N̂4 = N̂1 (33)
In view of (9) the decay conditions (8) take the form:
t(+∞) = 0 (34)
From (28) we have:
t(0) = [U(0) 0]T , U(0) = [U1 (0) U3 (0) P(0)]T (35)
 P.C. Vinh et al. / Wave Motion 83 (2018) 202–213 207

From (30), (33), (34) and (35), according to Vinh and Hue [18] it follows:
(n)
Ū(0)T K̂ U(0) = 0, n = −2, −1, 1, 2, 3 (36)
(n) n
where K̂ = (Kij(n) ) is the low and left block of matrix N̂ . Suppose U1 (0) ̸= 0, then U(0) = U1 (0)[1 α β]T where
α = U3 (0)/U1 (0) := α̂1 + iα̂2 , β = P(0)/U1 (0) := β̂1 + iβ̂2 , α̂1 , α̂2 , β̂1 , β̂2 are real. Introducing the expressions of U(0)
(n)
into (36) and taking into account the symmetry of matrix K̂ (see Vinh and Hue [18]) we arrive at:
⎡ (n) (n) (n) ⎤⎡
K11 K12 K13 1
⎤
[1 ᾱ β̄] ⎣ K12 ⎦ α ⎦=0
⎢ (n) (n) (n)
K22 K23 (37)
⎥⎣
(n)
K13
(n)
K23
(n)
K33 β

or equivalently:
(n) (n) (n) (n) (n)
K11 + (α̂12 + α̂22 )K22 + (β̂12 + β̂22 )K33 + 2α̂1 K12 + 2β̂1 K13
(n)
+ 2(α̂1 β̂1 + α̂2 β̂2 )K23 = 0, n = −2, −1, 1, 2, 3 (38)
(n)
It is easy to see that the matrix K̂ have the structures:
∗ 0 ∗ 0 ∗ 0
[ ] [ ]
0 ∗ 0 and ∗ 0 ∗ (39)
∗ 0 ∗ 0 ∗ 0
for n = −1, 1, 3 and n = −2, 2, respectively. For n = −2, 2, Eq. (38) takes the form:
(−2) (−2)
2α̂1 K12 + 2(α̂1 β̂1 + α̂2 β̂2 )K23 = 0,
(+2) (+2)
2α̂ 1 K12 + 2(α̂1 β̂1 + α̂2 β̂2 )K23 =0 (40)

Following Ting [17], it is not difficult to see that α̂1 = β̂2 = 0, Eqs. (40) are therefore satisfied. For n = 1, −1, 3, Eq. (38)
gives:
(1) (1) (1) (1)
α̂22 K22 + β̂12 K33 + 2β̂1 K13 = −K11 ,
α̂22 K22
∗
+ β̂12 K33
∗
+ 2β̂1 K13
∗ ∗
= −K11 ,
(3) (3) (3) (3)
α̂22 K22 + β̂12 K33 + 2β̂1 K13 = −K11 (41)
(1) (3)
where Kij , Kij and Kij∗ are given in Appendix B. From (41) we have:

∆
ˆ1 2 ∆
ˆ2 ∆
ˆ3
α̂22 = , β̂1 = , 2β̂1 = (42)
∆ˆ ∆ˆ ∆ˆ
where
⏐ (1) (1) (1) ⏐
⏐ ⏐ ⏐
⏐ K ⏐ −K (1) K (1) K (1) ⏐
⏐ 22 K33 K13 ⏐ ⏐ 11 33 13 ⏐
∆
ˆ = ⏐⏐ K22∗ ∗
K33 ∗ ⏐
K13 ⏐, ∆ ∗
ˆ 1 = ⏐⏐ −K11 ∗
K33 ∗ ⏐
K13 ⏐,
⏐ (3) (3) (3) ⏐
⏐ ⏐ ⏐
⏐ K K33 K13 ⏐ −K (3) K (3) K (3) ⏐
22 11 33 13
⏐ (1) (1) (1)
⏐ ⏐ (1) (1) (1)
⏐
⏐ K
⏐ 22 −K11 K13
⏐ K
⏐ 22 K33 −K11
⏐ ⏐
⏐ ⏐
∆ ∗ ∗ ∗
⏐ , ∆3 = ⏐ K22 K33 −K11
ˆ 2 = ⏐ K22 −K11 K13 ⏐ ˆ ⏐ ∗ ∗ ∗
(43)
⏐ ⏐
⏐
⏐ (3) (3) (3)
⏐ ⏐ (3) (3) (3)
⏐
⏐ K −K11 K13 ⏐ ⏐ K K33 −K11 ⏐
22 22

From (42) we immediately arrive at the secular equation of Rayleigh waves in non-viscous-fluid-saturated orthotropic
porous half-spaces with sealed surface-pores, namely:

∆
ˆ 23 − 4∆
ˆ 2∆
ˆ =0 (44)

Eq. (44) is totally explicit and is a real equation. With the same technique employed for the case of impervious surface, one
can show that Eq. (44) recovers the secular equation of Rayleigh waves propagating in purely elastic half-spaces.

5. Dimensionless secular equations

It is useful to convert the secular equations into dimensionless form.

208 P.C. Vinh et al. / Wave Motion 83 (2018) 202–213

Fig. 1. The dependence of the Rayleigh wave velocity x on c11 in the interval [0.5 2.0]. Here we take c33 = 2, c13 = 0.3, α1 = 0.8, α3 = 0.82, m = 1.16, r =
0.21, φ = 0.25.

Fig. 2. The dependence of the Rayleigh wave velocity x on c13 in the interval [0 1.5]. Here we take c11 = 1.8, c33 = 2, α1 = 0.8, α3 = 0.82, m = 1.16, r =
0.21, φ = 0.25.

5.1. The impervious surface case:

Multiplying two sides of (24) with M 6 φ 4 /C55

8
and doing some arrangements give:

∆
¯ 23 − 4rx∆
¯ 2∆
¯ =0 (45)

where ∆ ¯ ,∆
¯ 2 and ∆
¯ 3 are given in Appendix C. They are explicit functions of the squared dimensionless Rayleigh wave velocity
x, the porosity φ and the dimensionless material parameters α1 , α3 , c11 , c33 , c13 , m, r. The dimensionless Rayleigh wave
velocity x and the dimensionless parameters c11 , c33 , c13 , m, r are given by:

C11 C33 C13 M ρf ρs c 2

c11 = , c33 = , c13 = , m= , r= , x= (46)
C55 C55 C55 C55 ρs C55

When the elastic porous half-space is isotropic we have:

α1 = α3 := α, c11 = c33 = 1/γ , c13 = (1/γ − 2),

x = c 2 /c22 , c2 = µ/ρs , γ = µ/(λ + 2µ)
√
(47)

where λ and µ are Lame constants.

 P.C. Vinh et al. / Wave Motion 83 (2018) 202–213 209

Fig. 3. The dependence of the Rayleigh wave velocity x on the porosity φ in the interval [0 0.7]. Here we take c11 = 1.5, c33 = 2, c13 = 0.8, α1 = 0.01, α3 =
0.03, m = 0.7, r = 0.05.

Fig. 4. Dependence on φ in the interval [0 0.7] of the Rayleigh wave velocity x that is calculated by Eq. (48) for the isotropic (dashed-dot line) and for the
orthotropic half-space (solid line). Here we take γ = 0.4, α = 0.72, m = 0.7, r = 0.04 for the isotropic case and c11 = 1.5, c33 = 2, c13 = 0.9, α1 =
0.01, α3 = 0.02, m = 0.7, r = 0.04 for the orthotropic case.

5.2. The fully closed surface-pores case:

Analogously, the dimensionless secular equation for the case of fully closed surface-pores is:

D̄23 − 4rxD̄2 D̄ = 0 (48)

where D̄, D̄2 and D̄3 are given in Appendix D. They are explicit functions x, φ , c11 , c33 , c13 , m and r.

6. Numerical examples

As an example of application of the obtained secular equations, we use them to numerically examine the dependence
of the Rayleigh wave velocity x on the material dimensionless parameters: c11 (Fig. 1), c13 (Fig. 2), γ (Fig. 5), the porosity φ
(Figs. 3, 4) and the anisotropy (Fig. 4).
It is shown from these figures that the Rayleigh wave velocity depends strongly on:
(i) The porosity (Figs. 3, 4)
(ii) The material parameters (Figs. 1, 2, 5).
(iii) The anisotropy (Fig. 4)
(iv) The boundary conditions on the surface of half-spaces (Figs. 1, 2, 5).
The numerical calculations also reveal that:
210 P.C. Vinh et al. / Wave Motion 83 (2018) 202–213

Fig. 5. Dependence on γ in the interval [0 0.75] of the Rayleigh wave velocity x that is calculated by Eq. (52) in Vinh et al. [19]) for the fully opened
surface-pores boundary (dashed line), Eq. (48) for the surface with sealed surface-pores (solid line) and Eq. (45) for the impervious surface (dashed-dot
line). Here we take α = 0.55, m = 0.7, r = 0.15, φ = 0.3. The dashed line with stars is the purely elastic velocity curve.

(v) The velocity of Rayleigh waves in elastic porous half-spaces differs considerably from the one of Rayleigh wave in
purely elastic half-spaces (Figs. 1, 2, 5).
(vi) For a certain given set of material parameters, a Rayleigh wave may exist for a boundary condition, but it does
not exist for other boundary conditions. For example, with c11 = 1.5, c33 = 2, c13 = 0.9, α1 = 0.01, α3 = 0.02, m =
0.7, r = 0.55, φ = 0.45, a Rayleigh wave exists for the sealed surface-pores boundary condition and the impervious surface
boundary condition, but it is impossible for the one of fully opened pores (i.e. Eq. (52) in Vinh et al. [19] has not any solution
corresponding to a Rayleigh wave). This also implies that the boundary conditions on the surface of half-spaces affect strongly
the propagation of Rayleigh waves. √
(vii) The Rayleigh wave velocity may be larger than the shear wave velocity c2 = C55 /ρs (Figs. 3–5), even much larger
than it (Figs. 3, 4). This fact is impossible for the purely elastic half-spaces.
Since the Earth’s crust is modeled as fluid-saturated porous material and its material parameters are different for different
areas, the above conclusion is applicable to the velocity of Rayleigh waves propagating along the Earth’s surface. For
examples:
– If we consider the propagation of Rayleigh waves in North-Sea sandstone (see Ref. [25]), the dimensionless material
constants (for the orthotropic case) are: c11 = 1.6759, c33 = 2.3281, c13 = −0.0971, α1 = 1, α3 = 0.9, m = 0.6562.
For φ = 0.6 and r = 0.2475, the Rayleigh wave velocity is: x = 1.0600 for the case of sealed pores, x = 1.3185 for the
impervious case. If φ = 0.65 and r = 0.2235, the Rayleigh wave velocity is: x = 1.2490 for the case of sealed pores,
x = 1.6060 for the impervious case and x = 1.1760 for the case of fully opened pores.
– Corresponding to the material constants for sand used in Ref. [13] (see also Ref. [26]) the dimensionless parameters are:
γ = 7.2153 × 10−4 , α = 0.9988, m = 145.773, r = 0.3774. If φ = 0.5 the Rayleigh wave velocity is: x = 1.6716 for the
case of sealed pores, x = 1.8250 for the impervious case.

7. Conclusions

In this paper, the propagation of Rayleigh waves in non-viscous fluid-saturated orthotropic porous media with the sealed
surface-pores boundary condition and the impervious boundary condition is investigated. The secular equations in explicit
form of the wave have been derived by using the method of polarization vector. These equations are purely real equations
and are first reported. They recover the corresponding secular equations for purely elastic solids. Since the obtained secular
equations are totally explicit, they are significant in practical applications. The numerical examples are carried out clearly
showed that the Rayleigh wave velocity depends strongly on the porosity, the material parameters and the anisotropy and
that it differs considerably from the one corresponding to purely elastic half-spaces. We were able to demonstrate that the
boundary conditions on the surface of half-spaces considerably impact on the propagation of Rayleigh waves. The numerical
calculations show that in the elastic fluid saturated porous half-spaces, Rayleigh waves can travel with a velocity that may be
larger than the shear wave velocity, a fact that is impossible for the purely elastic half-spaces.

Acknowledgments

The work was supported by the Vietnam National Foundation for Science and Technology Development (NAFOSTED)
under grant no. 107.02–2017.07 and the OFID Postgraduate Fellowship Programme at ICTP and the ICTP/IAEA Sandwich
Training Educational Programme.
 P.C. Vinh et al. / Wave Motion 83 (2018) 202–213 211

(1) (3)
Appendix A. The expressions of rij , rij and rij∗

(1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1)

r11 = d1 , r16 = a2 , r22 = d2 , r23 = d3 , r33 = d4 , r66 = b4 ,
∗
r11 = (d2 d4 − d23 )[a22 b2 − 2a1 a2 b3 + a21 b4 + (b23 − b2 b4 )d1 ],
∗
r16 = −d3 [a22 b2 − 2a1 a2 b3 + a21 b4 + (b23 − b2 b4 )d1 ],
∗
r22 = (a22 − b4 d1 )(b1 d2 d4 − b1 d23 − d4 ), r23
∗
= (a1 a2 − b3 d1 )[(d23 − d2 d4 )b1 + d4 ],
∗
r33 = (b2 d1 − a21 )[d4 + b1 (d23 − d2 d4 )],
∗
r66 = (b1 d2 − 1)[a22 b2 − 2a1 a2 b3 + a21 b4 + (b23 − b2 b4 )d1 ],
(3)
r11 = d1 (b1 d1 − a1 ) + a1 (a1 d2 + a2 d3 − d1 ) + a2 (a1 d3 + a2 d4 ),
(3)
r16 = d1 (b1 a2 − b3 ) + a1 (b3 d2 + b4 d3 − a2 ) + a2 (b3 d3 + b4 d4 ),
(3)
r22 = d2 (b2 d2 + b3 d3 − a1 ) + d3 (b3 d2 + b4 d3 − a2 ) + d1 − a1 d2 − a2 d3 ,
(3)
r23 = d3 (b2 d2 + b3 d3 − a1 ) + d4 (b3 d2 + b4 d3 − a2 ),
(3)
r33 = d3 (b2 d3 + b3 d4 ) + d4 (b3 d3 + b4 d4 ),
(3)
r66 = a2 (a2 b1 − b3 ) + b3 (b3 d2 + b4 d3 − a2 ) + b4 (b3 d3 + b4 d4 ) (49)
(−1)
with aj , bj , dj are determined by (13) and rij∗ = rij . det N.

(1) (3)
Appendix B. The expressions of Kij , Kij and Kij∗

(1) (1) (1) (1)

K11 = d1 , K22 = d2 , K13 = a2 , K33 = b4 ,
∗
K11 = (d2 d4 − d23 )[a22 b2 − 2a1 a2 b3 + a21 b4 + (b23 − b2 b4 )d1 ],
∗
K22 = (a22 − d1 b4 )(b1 d2 d4 − b1 d23 − d4 ),
∗
K13 = −d3 [a22 b2 − 2a1 a2 b3 + a21 b4 + (b23 − b2 b4 )d1 ],
∗
K33 = (b1 d2 − 1)[a22 b2 − 2a1 a2 b3 + a21 b4 + (b23 − b2 b4 )d1 ],
(3)
K11 = d1 (b1 d1 − a1 ) + a1 (a1 d2 + a2 d3 − d1 ) + a2 (a1 d3 + a2 d4 ),
(3)
K22 = d2 (b2 d2 + b3 d3 − a1 ) + d3 (d2 b3 + b4 d3 − a2 ) + d1 − a2 d3 − a1 d2 ,
(3)
K13 = a2 (b1 d1 − a1 ) + b3 (a1 d2 + a2 d3 − d1 ) + b4 (a1 d3 + a2 d4 ),
(3)
K33 = a2 (a2 b1 − b3 ) + b3 (d2 b3 + d3 b4 − a2 ) + b4 (b3 d3 + b4 d4 ) (50)

with ak , bk , dk are given by (13).

Appendix C. The expressions of ∆

¯,∆
¯ 2 and ∆
¯ 3 for the impervious surface case

∗ (3)
¯ = φ (1 − φ )x(mr̂66 ∗ (3) (3) (1) (3) (1)
∆ r̂16 − r̂16 ∗
r̂66 ) − (r̂22 + 2φr̂23
∗
+ φ 2 r̂33
∗
)(r̂16 r̂66 − r̂66 r̂16 )
(3) (3) (3) (1) ∗ (1) ∗
+ φ 2 (r̂22 + 2φr̂23 + φ 2 r̂33 )(r̂66 r̂16 − mr̂16 r̂66 ),
(3) ∗ (3) ∗ (1) (3) (1) (3)
¯ 2 = (1 − φ )mx(φ mr̂11
∆ r̂16 − r̂16 r̂11 ∗
) − m(r̂22 + 2φr̂23
∗
+ φ 2 r̂33
∗
)(mr̂16 r̂11 − r̂11 r̂16 )
(3) (3) (3) ∗ (1) ∗ (1)
+ mφ (r̂22 + 2φr̂23 + φ 2 r̂33 )(r̂11 r̂16 − φr̂16 r̂11 ),
∗ (3)
¯ 3 = (1 − φ )x(r̂11 (3) ∗ (1) (3) (1) (3)
∆ r̂66 − m2 φr̂11 r̂66 ∗
) − (r̂22 + 2φr̂23
∗
+ φ 2 r̂33
∗
)(r̂11 r̂66 − mr̂66 r̂11 )
(3) (3) (3) (1) ∗ (1) ∗
+ φ (r̂22 + 2φr̂23 + φ 2 r̂33 )(mφr̂11 r̂66 − r̂66 r̂11 ) (51)
212 P.C. Vinh et al. / Wave Motion 83 (2018) 202–213

in which:
(1) (1) (1)
r̂11 = d̂1 , r̂16 = â2 , r̂66 = b̂4 ,
∗
r̂11 = (1 − φ )x[rmx(â22 b̂2 − 2â1 â2 b̂3 + d̂1 b̂23 ) + b̂4 (â21 − b̂2 d̂1 )],
∗
r̂16 = −rmx(2â1 â2 b̂3 − â22 b̂2 − b̂23 d̂1 ) + b̂4 (â21 − d̂1 b̂2 ),
∗
r̂66 = (d̂2 − 1)[mrx(â22 b̂2 − 2â1 â2 b̂3 + d̂1 b̂23 ) + b̂4 (â21 − d̂1 b̂2 )],
(3)
r̂11 = φ[d̂1 (d̂1 − 2â1 ) + â21 d̂2 ] − 2φ rxâ1 â2 + rxâ22 ,
(3)
r̂16 = −φ â1 b̂4 + mφ (b̂1 d̂1 â2 − d̂1 b̂3 + â1 d̂2 b̂3 − â1 â2 ) − mrxφ â2 b̂3 + â2 b̂4 ,
∗
r̂22 + 2φr̂23
∗
+ φ 2 r̂33
∗
= [(1 − φ )x − 1][ − d̂1 b̂4 + rmxâ22 − 2φ rmx(â1 â2 − d̂1 b̂3 )

− φ 2 rmx(d̂1 b̂2 − â21 )],

(3) (3) (3)
r̂22 + 2φr̂23 + φ 2 r̂33 = m(b̂2 d̂22 − 2â1 d̂2 + d̂1 ) − rmxφ (2b̂2 d̂2 − 2â1 − φ rxb̂2 ),
(3)
r̂66 = [â2 (â2 − 2b̂3 ) + d̂2 b̂23 ]m3 rxφ − 2mrxφ b̂3 b̂4 + b̂24 (52)

where:
c13 c13 1 α3 α32
â1 = − , â2 = α1 − α3 − φ, b̂2 = , b̂3 = , b̂4 = rx + m(rx − φ ),
c33 c33 c33 c33 c33
2
c13
d̂1 = (1 − φ )x − c11 + , d̂2 = (1 − φ )x + φ rx (53)
c33

Appendix D. The expressions of D̄, D̄2 and D̄3 for the sealed surface-pores case:

(1) (3) (3) (3) (1) (1) (3)

D̄ = φ K̂22 (mK̂33
∗ ∗
K̂13 − K̂33 K̂13 ∗
) + K̂22 (K̂33 K̂13 − K̂33 K̂13 )
(3) (1) ∗ ∗ (1)
+ φ 2 K̂22 (K̂33 K̂13 − mK̂33 K̂13 ),
(1) (3) (3) (1) (3) (3) (1)
D̄2 = mK̂22 (mφ K̂11 K̂13
∗ ∗
− K̂11 ∗
K̂13 ) + mK̂22 (K̂11 K̂13 − mK̂11 K̂13 )
(3) ∗ (1) (1) ∗
+ mφ K̂22 (K̂11 K̂13 − φ K̂11 K̂13 ),
(1) (3) (3) (1) (3) (1) (3)
∗
D̄3 = K̂22 (K̂33 K̂11 − m2 φ K̂33
∗ ∗
K̂11 ) + K̂22 (mK̂33 K̂11 − K̂11 K̂33 )
(3) ∗ (1) (1) ∗
+ φ K̂22 (mφ K̂33 K̂11 − K̂33 K̂11 ) (54)

here:
∗
K̂11 ∗
= r̂11 , K̂22
∗
= [(1 − φ )x − 1](rmxâ22 − d̂1 b̂4 ), K̂33
∗ ∗
= r̂66 , K̂13
∗ ∗
= r̂16 ,
(1) (1) (1) (1)
K̂11 = d̂1 , K̂22 = d̂2 , K̂33 = b̂4 , K̂13 = â2 ,
(3) (3) (3)
K̂11 = r̂11 , K̂22 = m(b̂2 d̂22 − 2â1 d̂2 + d̂1 ) + 2mrx(â2 − d̂2 b̂3 ) + rxb̂4 ,
(3)
K̂33 = m2 φ rx[â2 (â2 − 2b̂3 ) + d̂2 b̂23 ] − mφ (1 + rx)b̂3 b̂4 + b̂24 ,
(3)
K̂13 = mφ (d̂1 â2 − â1 â2 + â1 d̂2 b̂3 − d̂1 b̂3 ) − mφ rxâ2 b̂3 − φ â1 b̂4 + â2 b̂4 (55)
∗
with r̂11 , r̂16
∗
, r̂66
∗
are determined (52) and âk , b̂k , d̂k are given by (53).

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