Elastic wave behavior across linear slip interfaces

A model for an imperfectly bonded interface between two elastic media is proposed. Displacement across this surface is not required to be continuous. The displacement discontinuity, or slip, is taken to be linearly related to the stress traction which is continuous across the interface. For isotropic interface behavior, there are two complex frequency dependent interface compliances, ηN and ηT, where the component of the slip normal to the interface is given by ηN times the normal stress and the component tangential to the interface is given by ηT times the shear stress and is in the same direction. Reflection and transmission coefficients for harmonic plane waves incident at arbitrary angles upon a plane linear slip interface are computed in terms of the interface compliances. These coefficients are frequency dependent even when the compliances are real and frequency independent. Examples of the effects of buried slip interfaces on reflection coefficient spectra and on Love-wave dispersion relations are presented.