Interface waves along an anisotropic imperfect interface between anisotropic solids

First and second order asymptotic boundary conditions are introduced to model a thin anisotropic layer between two generally anisotropic solids. Such boundary conditions can be used to describe wave interaction with a solid-solid imperfect anisotropic interface. The wave solutions for the second order boundary conditions satisfy energy balance and give zero scattering from a homogeneous substrate/layer/substrate system. They couple the in-plane and out-of-plane stresses and displacements on the interface even for isotropic substrates. Interface imperfections are modeled by an interfacial multiphase orthotropic layer with effective elastic properties. This model determines the transfer matrix which includes interfacial stiffness and inertial and coupling terms. The present results are a generalization of previous work valid for either an isotropic viscoelastic layer or an orthotropic layer with a plane of symmetry coinciding with the wave incident plane. The problem of localization of interface waves is considered. It is shown that the conditions for the existence of such interface waves are less restrictive than those for Stoneley waves. The results are illustrated by calculation of the interface wave velocity as a function of normalized layer thickness and angle of propagation. The applicability of the asymptotic boundary conditions is analyzed by comparison with an exact solution for an interfacial anisotropic layer. It is shown that the asymptotic boundary conditions are applicable not only for small thickness-to-wavelength ratios, but for much broader frequency ranges than one might expect. The existence of symmetric and SH-type interface waves is also discussed.