Stability of heterogeneous systems with coherent interphase boundaries (Q1175062)

The stability of a periodic structure consisting of alternating layers of two different phases is considered. The relevant dispersion equations and the equations of the surface of neutral stability are found. The necessary conditions for the stability of these structures to disturbances of symmetric and antisymmetric type are stated. A special limiting case of this problem is the problem of the stability of the plane layer representing the embryo of a new phase in an unbounded elastic matrix. The effect of external boundaries is exemplified by considering the stability of a new phase embryo on the surface of an elastic half-space (a rigid wall of free surface). In the rigid-wall case, long-wave disturbances do not lead to a loss of stability. In the free-surface case, instability under long-wave disturbances sets in if there is a nonzero jump of the principal stresses in a direction tangential to the interphase.