A generalized Goursat-Riemann problem for plane waves in isotropic elastic solids (Q1308898)

A generalized Goursat-Riemann problem for plane waves propagating in an isotropic elastic half-space with constant initial and nonconstant boundary conditions is investigated. By the application of the temporal perturbation of the solution near \(t=0\), we are able to evaluate the modification of the wave patterns from the solution of the Goursat- Riemann problem. Four basic wave patterns were found to be of importance for which the initial and final stress states are on (i) a fast simple wave curve, (ii) a slow simple wave curve, (iii) a fast shock wave curves, and on (iv) a slow shock wave curve. The analysis shows that the geometry of the stress paths and the curvilinear wave fronts depend on the impact at the boundary and the partition in the stress space.