Numerical study of Rayleigh wave propagation along a horizontal semi-infinite crack buried in half-space

The present article investigates the propagation of Rayleigh waves along a horizontal semi-infinite crack, and its interaction with the crack tip. Finite element analysis was used to simulate wave propagation and study the interaction. An incident Rayleigh wave diffracts as bulk waves into the half-space upon interaction with the crack tip. It was observed that the diffracted bulk modes can interact with the half-space boundary, and mode converts into a Rayleigh wave traveling along the boundary. A qualitative analysis was performed to determine the effect of crack depth using transmission, reflection, and scattering coefficients. Moreover, the possibility of Lamb wave generation also arises since the crack face and boundary form a stress-free plate section. The source of the "turning" Lamb modes was also identified from the observations. The characteristics of the transmitted Rayleigh wave were also explored, and a certain degree of mode coupling between Rayleigh and shear waves was observed when the crack tip was farther away from the boundary.