A Complete Solution of the Wave Equations for Transversely Isotropic Media

A transversely isotropic material in the sense of Green is considered. A complete solution in terms of retarded potential functions for the wave equations in transversely isotropic media is presented. In this paper we reduce the number of potential functions to only one, and we discuss the required conditions. As a special case, the torsionless and rotationally symmetric configuration with respect to the axis of symmetry of the material is discussed. The limiting case of elastostatics is cited, where the solution is reduced to the Lekhnitskii–Hu–Nowacki solution. The solution is simplified for the special case of isotropy. In this way, a new series of potential functions (to the best knowledge of the author) for the elastodynamics problem of isotropic materials is presented This solution is reduced to a special case of the Cauchy–Kovalevski–Somigliana solution, if the displacements satisfy specific conditions. Finally, Boggio's Theorem is generalized for transversely isotropic media which may be of interest to the reader beyond the present application. Dedicated to Morton E. Gurtin