Wave reflection and refraction in triclinic crystalline media

Summary In this paper, the reflection and refraction of a plane wave at an interface between two half-spaces composed of triclinic crystalline material is considered. It is shown that due to incidence of plane wave three types of waves, namely quasi-P (qP), quasi-SV (qSV) and quasi-SH (qSH), will be generated governed by the propagation condition involving the acoustic tensor. A simple procedure has been presented for the calculation of all the three phase velocities of the quasi waves. It has been established that the direction of particle motion is neither parallel nor perpendicular to the direction of propagation. Relations are established between directions of motion and propagation, respectively. The expressions for reflection and refraction coefficients of qP, qSV and qSH waves are obtained. Numerical results of reflection and refraction coefficients are presented for different types of anisotropic media and for different types of incident waves. Graphical representations have been made for incident qP waves, and for incident qSV and qSH waves numerical data are presented in tables.The work was completed while the author was visiting the University of Kaiserslautern, Department of Geomathematics as Visiting Professor. The Author is grateful to Professor Dr. W. Freeden for providing DAAD fellowship and all the facilities for conducting research, as well as to Dr. V.Michel for various discussions about the research work and also for all kinds of help during his stay at Kaiserslautern, Germany. This award is very gratefully acknowledged.