Shear-wave modulation in a dry sandy–Piezoelectric–fibre‑reinforced trilayer model: A closed‑form electro‑mechanical approach under smooth contact
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15282/jmes.20.2.2026.2.0870Keywords:
SH-waves, Dry sandy layer, Piezoelectricity, Fiber reinforced layer, Disperson relationAbstract
The article exquisitely delves to study the transmission of shear waves (SH) in a tri-layered geological media which is fundamental to nondestructive testing and SAW devices, including a piezoelectric layer sandwiched between a dry sandy half-space and a fiber-reinforced half-space under smooth-contact conditions. The analyticall study investigates the transference of SH waves through such a configuration, aiming to derive the complex dispersion relation and asses the inpact of sandy parameters, fiber reinforcement anisotropy, piezoelectric coupling and thickness of layer on phase velocity and mode confinement. Using the Biot's theory for dry sandy media, constitutive relations for fiber-reinforced elastic materials and linear piezoelectricity under quasi-static approximation, the governing equations are formulated and solved via potential functions under smooth contact boundary conditions, stress and displacement continuity, vanishing stress at the upper interface and open-circuit electrical conditions producing the secular equation, which is then evaluated numerically. Results demonstrate that the phase velocity remains heavily sensitive to the reinforcement anisotropy and the frictional coefficient of the dry sandy medium; the piezoelectric layer introduces electromechanical coupling that generates distinct dispersion branches and band gaps at high wavenumbers, while smooth contact effectively confines energy within the layered structure. The model offers immediate applications in smart seismic wave barriers, improved inversion of shear-wave splitting in desert regions underlain by reinforced strata, and piezoelectric surface acoustic wave sensors for structural health monitoring. By bridging classical geomechanics and modern smart materials, this model may serve as a rigorous benchmark for future experimental and computational studies.
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