Discontinuity waves of order r\(\geq 1\) in an inhomogeneous anisotropic linear elastic solid (Q915532)

The paper investigates the propagation of discontinuity waves of order greater than or equal to one (in Hadamard's classification) travelling through an inhomogeneous anisotropic linear elastic body. The work combines the theory of singular surfaces and the ray theory adapted to the most general inhomogeneous case. The evolution law of the n-th order discontinuity along the rays associated with the wave front is thus determined. As a consequence of the inhomogeneity the behavior of the discontinuities depends on the order n of the wave through the normal speed of propagation of the wave front. This appears to be a new result obtained thanks to the original methodology.