On the propagation of generalized transverse waves in heat-conducting elastic materials

A generalized transverse wave is a propagating acceleration discontinuity on which the temperature and the entropy, together with their gradients, are continuous. In a heat-conducting elastic material the propagation and growth of such waves are uninfluenced by thermomechanical interaction. It is shown in this paper that in any given plane there is at least one direction in which a generalized transverse wave may propagate, and the existence is also proved of at least one direction in which a pair of generalized transverse waves may travel. Necessary and sufficient conditions are established for the speeds of propagation of these waves to be real. Relationships between transverse and generalized transverse waves are also studied, and in the last two sections of the paper the directions in which generalized transverse waves may propagate in an isotropic heat-conducting elastic material are systematically worked out and classified.