ARTICLE IN PRESS

JOURNAL OF
SOUND AND
VIBRATION
Journal of Sound and Vibration 310 (2008) 702–717
www.elsevier.com/locate/jsvi

Transition radiation of elastic waves at the interface

of two elastic half-planes
Karel N. van Dalen, Andrei V. Metrikine
Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, P.O. Box 5048, 2600 GA Delft, The Netherlands
Accepted 11 June 2007
The peer review of this article was organised by the Guest Editor
Available online 7 August 2007

Abstract

Radiation of elastic waves is studied that is emitted by a point load that crosses the interface of two elastic half-planes. It is
assumed that the load has a constant magnitude, moves along a straight line normal to the interface, and has a constant
speed that is smaller than the minimum shear wave speed in the half-planes. In this case the mechanism of excitation of elastic
waves is conventionally referred to as transition radiation. The adopted model allows to obtain an analytical expression for
the elastic field excited by the load in the frequency–wavenumber domain. Using this expression, the energy of transition
radiation is derived in a closed form. It is shown that transition radiation of the body waves occurs at any non-zero velocity
of the load. Additionally, transition radiation of interface waves may occur provided that parameters of the half-planes allow
existence of Stoneley waves. A parametric analysis of the directivity diagram of radiated body waves is accomplished
focusing on dependence of the diagram on the load speed, load direction, and parameters of the half-planes. Using
parameters that allow radiation of interface waves, the energy of this radiation is compared to that of the body waves. It is
shown that the energy of the interface waves is greater unless the load velocity is close to the lowest body wave velocity.
r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

Transition radiation is emitted when a perturbation source (electric charge, acoustic monopole, mechanical
load, etc.), that does not possess an inherent frequency, moves along a straight line at a constant velocity in an
inhomogeneous medium or near such a medium [1]. For the first time, this phenomenon was described by
Ginzburg and Frank [2] who analyzed radiation of electromagnetic waves by a charged particle crossing the
boundary between an ideal conductor and vacuum. Already in early studies concerned with transition
radiation, it was demonstrated that this phenomenon was universal from the physical point of view because it
occurred irrespective of the physical nature of the waves. This provided a basis for the investigation into
acoustic transition radiation initiated in 1962 which was then carried out in parallel with extensive studies on
electromagnetic transition radiation [3]. Today, there are a vast number of reports on both the electromagnetic
and acoustic radiation, and a monograph [1] which provides a comprehensive account of transition radiation
in classical electrodynamics.
Corresponding author. Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, Stevinweg 1, 2628 CN Delft,
The Netherlands. Tel.: +31 15 2788388; fax: +31 15 2781189.
E-mail address: [email protected] (K.N. van Dalen).

0022-460X/$ - see front matter r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jsv.2007.06.007
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
K.N. van Dalen, A.V. Metrikine / Journal of Sound and Vibration 310 (2008) 702–717 703

In the beginning of 1990s, the first study was published on transition radiation of elastic waves [4]. This
radiation is emitted, for example, by every train running on a conventional railway track. The wheels of the
train, pressed against the rails by gravity, excite elastic waves in the railway track due to track inhomogeneity
caused by sleepers, non-uniform subsoil, etc. A review of the studies on transition radiation of elastic waves in
one- and two-dimensional elastic systems (strings, beams, membranes and plates) can be found in Ref. [5].
This paper presents the first study of transition radiation of elastic waves in an elastic continuum. Such study
is necessary to pave the way to physical understanding of ground vibration induced by high speed trains and
associated with non-uniformity of the subsoil. For example the fundamentals of transition radiation have to be
known to understand ground vibration generated by a train as it enters/leaves a bridge or passes by a railway
station. Another example in which transition radiation plays the governing role is generation of ground
vibration by underground trains that can be caused by variation of soil parameters along a train tunnel.
The aim of this paper is to discover the fundamental features of transition radiation in elastic continua
and to compare these features to those known in electrodynamics, acoustics and structural mechanics (see
Refs. [1–5]). To reach this aim, a basic model is chosen that consists of two elastic half-planes. The half-planes
are subjected to a constant load that crosses the interface between the half-planes along the path normal to this
interface. Though the chosen model has no direct practical application, its major advantage is that it allows to
obtain an analytical expression for the energy of transition radiation.
This paper is structured as follows. In Section 2, the model is described and an expression is obtained for the
elastic field that is excited by the load. In Section 3, the angular density of the energy of transition radiation is
derived that is transferred by the body waves. In Section 4, it is shown that transition radiation of interface
waves can also occur and a closed-form expression is found for the energy of this radiation. Finally, in Section
5, a parametric analysis of transition radiation is accomplished focusing on dependence of radiation on the
load velocity and parameters of the half-planes.

2. Model, solution and radiation field

To study the fundamental features of transition radiation in elastic continua, a moving load is considered
that crosses a sharp interface of two homogeneous isotropic elastic half-planes, as shown in Fig. 1. To ensure
that transition radiation occurs in its pure form, the other possible radiation mechanisms should be prevented,
namely the radiation due to a transient loading, the radiation due to a non-uniform motion and the Mach
radiation. This is done by assuming that the load has a constant magnitude Fz and moves along a straight line
z ¼ 0 at a constant speed V, which is smaller than the minimum shear wave speed in the elastic continuum.
The load-induced motion of the elastic continuum, assuming the plane-strain and disregarding the transient
effects associated with the start of the load, is described by the following equation of motion and interface
conditions at z ¼ 0:
c2pi rðr  ui Þ  c2si r  ðr  ui Þ ¼ qtt u  F=ri dðx  VtÞdðzÞ, (1)

u1 ¼ u2 ; tð1ex Þ ¼ tð2ex Þ ; x ¼ 0. (2)

V
Fz

1, cs1, cp1 2, cs2, cp2

Fig. 1. Two homogeneous isotropic half-planes subjected to a uniformly moving load.

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704 K.N. van Dalen, A.V. Metrikine / Journal of Sound and Vibration 310 (2008) 702–717

In Eq. (1), index i specifies the quantities belonging to the left (i ¼ 1) and the right (i ¼ 2) half-planes,
ui ¼ ½ui ðx; z; tÞ wi ðx; z; tÞT is the vector-displacement of the continuum, cpi and csi are the pressure wave speed
and the shear wave speed, ri is the material density, F ¼ ½ 0 F z T is the load, V is the load speed, tiðex Þ is the
 T
traction on a plane with the normal direction ex, r ¼ qx qz , d(y) is the Dirac delta-function.
To analyze the problem, the following integral Fourier transform is applied to Eq. (1):
Z 1Z 1
u~~ i ðx; o; kz Þ ¼ ui ðx; z; tÞ exp ðiðot  kz zÞÞ dt dz, (3)
1 1

where o and kz are the frequency and z-component of the wavenumber. This results in the following system of
ordinary differential equations:
" #" #  " # " 2 #" # " #
b2i 0 qxx u~~ i  2  0 1 qx u~~ i Rsi 0 u~~ i 1 0 iox=V
~ þ i bi  1 k z ~ þ 2 2 ~ ¼ e , (4)
0 1 qxx w~ i 1 0 qx w~ i 0 b R
i pi w~ i mi V F z

where bi ¼ cpi/csio1, R2si ¼ o2 =c2si  k2z , R2pi ¼ o2 =c2pi  k2z , and mi is the shear modulus.
Accounting for the proper behavior at x-7N, the general solution of Eq. (4) can be written as
   
u~~ i ¼ Ai exp iox=V þ d si Csi exp ðiRsi jxjÞ þ d pi Cpi exp iRpi jxj , (5)
where
h iT h  iT h iT h  iT
Cs1 ¼ 1 Rs1 =kz ; Cp1 ¼ 1 kz Rp1 ; Cs2 ¼ 1 Rs2 =kz ; Cp2 ¼ 1 kz Rp2 ,
 T
Ai ¼ Ai Bi ,
      
F z okz 1  1 b2i F z R2pi  o2 V 2 þ 1  1 b2i k2z
Ai ¼      ; Bi ¼      ð6Þ
mi V 2 R2si  o2 V 2 R2pi  o2 V 2 mi V 2 R2si  o2 V 2 R2pi  o2 V 2

and the radicals Rsi and Rpi are defined as

8 rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
.
>
>
>
>  o2 c2si;pi  k2z ; oo  csi;pi jkz j;
>
>
>
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
. < rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
> .
2
Rsi;pi 2 2 2
¼ o csi;pi  kz ¼ i kz  o2 c2si;pi ; o2 pc2si;pi k2z ; (7)
>
>
>
> rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
.
>
>
>
> þ o2 c2si;pi  k2z ; o4 þ csi;pi jkz j:
:

The above definition of the radicals satisfies the requirement of vanishing displacements at x-7N (for
o2 pc2si;pi k2z ) and the radiation condition (for o2 4c2si;pi k2z ) which requires that no wave can propagate from
infinity towards the interface of the half-planes.
To find the unknown amplitudes dsi and dpi in Eq. (5), the continuity of tractions and displacements at z ¼ 0
(Eq. (2)), has to be employed. Substitution of Eq. (5) into Eq. (2) gives a system of four linear algebraic
equations, which can be written as
2 32 3 2 3
1 1 1 1 d s1 A1  A2
 
6 Rs1 =kz kz Rp1 Rs2 =kz kz Rp2 76 7 6 7
6 76 d p1 7 6 B1  B2 7
6  2    7 6 7 6 7
6 2Rs1 Rs1  k2z Rp1 2mRs2 m R2s2  k2z Rp2 7 6 d s2 7 ¼ 6 C 1  mC 2 7, (8)
4    5 4 5 4 5
R2s1  k2z kz 2kz m R2s2  k2z kz 2mkz d p2 D1  mD2

where m ¼ m2/m1 is the ratio of the shear moduli of the half-planes, C i ¼ b2i Ai o=V þ ðb2i  2Þkz Bi ;
Di ¼ kz Ai þ Bi o=V . Eq. (8) can be readily solved to give the unknown constants dsi and dpi. Thus, the
solution of the problem given by Eqs. (1) and (2) can be considered to be known analytically in the
frequency–wavenumber domain.
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As one can see from Eq. (5), the displacement of each half-plane is the superposition of three terms:
u~~ i ¼ u~~ Fi þ u~~ si þ u~~ pi . (9)
In Eq. (9), u~~ Fi ¼ Ai exp ðiox=V Þ is the eigenfield of the load that is stationary in the reference system that
moves with the load. The energy of this eigenfield changes as the load crosses the interface x ¼ 0, which can be
thought of as the reason for transition radiation. The terms u~~ si ¼ d si Csi exp ðiRsi jxjÞ and u~~ pi ¼
d pi Cpi exp ðiRpi jxjÞ contain trains of waves that, though excited by the load, propagate independently of
it. These are the propagating waves in the latter two terms that describe transition radiation.
The transition radiation field consists of two distinct parts, namely of the body waves and of the interface
waves (the latter occurs only in a specific range of the continuum parameters). The body waves propagate
from the interface towards infinities. The z-component of the phase velocity ci ¼ o/kz of these waves
must satisfy the condition c2i =c2si;pi 41. The interface waves propagate along the interface and decay
exponentially with the distance from the interface. The phase velocity of these waves equals the velocity of
Stoneley waves [6], which is smaller than the minimum shear wave speed in the continuum. Correspondingly,
the continuum parameters NSt that give rise to this part of transition radiation are the same as those required
for existence of Stoneley waves (see Ref. [7]).
Both parts of transition radiation can be extracted from the following displacement field that is obtained by
inverting the free-wave part of Eq. (9) into the time–space domain:
Z 1Z 1
 
ufree
i ¼ ð 2pÞ 2
u~~ si þ u~~ pi exp ðiðot  kz zÞÞ do dkz . (10)
1 1

This expression is used in the following sections to derive the energy of transition radiation.

3. Transition radiation of body waves

To determine the energy of body waves that are excited during the load transition through the interface, it is
convenient to use the so-called Hamilton’s approach [8]. According to this approach, the radiation energy is
calculated by integrating the energy density of the elastic field over space rather than integrating the energy
flux through a surface over time. The Hamilton’s method is based on the idea to consider the radiation field
sufficiently long after the load has passed through the interface between the half-planes. Mathematically, the
field is considered in the limit of t-N. In this limit, the four wave fields that participate in the system
dynamics, namely the eigenfield of the load, the shear wave field, the pressure wave field and the interface wave
field (if generated), can be considered to separate in space owing to the different propagation speeds. Thus, the
energies of each field can be computed separately and the energy of transition radiation transferred by the
body waves E ri can be expressed as
E ri ¼ E rsi þ E rpi , (11)
Z 1 Z 1
E rsi;pi ¼ ersi;pi ðx; z; tÞ dx dz, (12)
1 1

where ersi ðx; z; tÞ and erpi ðx; z; tÞ are the densities of radiation energy associated with the shear and pressure
waves, respectively. Note that the limits of integration over x in Eq. (12) span from minus to plus infinity
instead of covering the corresponding half-planes. The integration interval is extended for convenience of the
mathematical elaborations to follow. The extension is justified by the fact that in the limit t-N, the radiation
pulses are so far from the interface that integration over the complete plane and that over the corresponding
half-plane give exactly the same results. The superscript r in Eq. (11) specifies that not the complete elastic
fields usi and upi are accounted for but only the propagating parts of these that are associated with radiation
into the half-planes, e.g.
Z 1 Z joj=csi
ursi ¼ ð2pÞ2 u~~ si ðo; kz Þ exp ðiðot  kz zÞÞ dkz do. (13)
1 joj=csi
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The energy density e(x,z,t) of the elastic continuum is the superposition of the kinetic energy density k(x,z,t)
and the potential energy density p(x,z,t). In terms of the continuum displacements, these densities read (see
Ref. [9]):
ki ¼ 12ri ðqt ui Þ2 þ 12ri ðqt wi Þ2 ,
 
pi ¼ 12li ðqx ui þ qz wi Þ2 þ 12mi ðqz ui þ qx wi Þ2 þ mi ðqx ui Þ2 þ ðqz wi Þ2 . ð14Þ

To calculate the energy of transition radiation, the shear wave field and the pressure wave field
defined by Eq. (10) should be separately substituted into Eq. (14) and then integrated in accordance with
Eq. (12).
To evaluate the quadratic terms of which the energy density is composed, a method described in Ref. [1] is
used. According to this method, the term ðqt usi Þ2 , for example, can be written as
ðqt usi Þ2 ¼ ðqt usi Þðqt usi Þ ,
Z 1Z 1
qt usi ¼ ð2pÞ 2
ðioÞu~~ si ðo; kz Þ exp ðiðot  kz zÞÞ do dkz ,
1 1
Z 1Z 1
   

ðqt usi Þ ¼ ð2pÞ 2
ðiōÞu~~ si ō; k̄z exp i ōt  k̄z z dō dk̄z , ð15Þ
1 1

where the asterisk implies complex conjugation. Consequently, ðqt usi Þ2 can be written as
Z 1Z 1Z 1Z 1
 
2
ðqt usi Þ ¼ ð2pÞ 4
oōu~~ si ðo; kz Þu~~ si ō; k̄z eitðōoÞþizðkz k̄z Þ dk̄z dkz dō do. (16)
1 1 1 1

To distinguish the propagating part of the displacement field, only those frequencies and wave-
numbers should be accounted
 for in Eq. (16) that correspond to real values of Rsi, i.e. o2 4c2si k2z .
r 2
Therefore, the part qt usi of Eq. (16) that corresponds to propagating waves into the half-planes can be
written as
Z 1 Z 1 Z joj=csi Z jōj=csi
 r 2  
qt usi ¼ ð2pÞ4 oōu~~ si ðo; kz Þu~~ si ō; k̄z eitðōoÞþizðkz k̄z Þ dk̄z dkz dō do. (17)
1 1 joj=csi jōj=csi

Applying the above-described procedure to the complete energy density defined by Eq. (14), the energy
densities of radiated shear and pressure wave fields can be written as
Z 1 Z 1 Z joj=csi;pi Z jōj=csi;pi
1 
ersi;pi ¼ 4
bsi;pi d si;pi d̄ si;pi W si;pi eitðōoÞþizðkz k̄z Þ dk̄z dkz dō do, (18)
ð2pÞ 1 1 joj=csi;pi jōj=csi;pi
where
(
eixðR̄s1;p1 Rs1;p1 Þ ; i ¼ 1;
W si;pi ¼ (19)
eixðRs2;p2 R̄s2;p2 Þ ; i ¼ 2;

2 2
!
  1 Rsi R̄si 1 Rsi R̄si R̄si R2si R̄si
bsi o; ō; kz ; k̄z ¼ ri oō 1 þ þ mi kz k̄z 1 þ 4 2 2 þ 2
, (20)
2 kz k̄z 2 kz k̄z k̄ k2 k̄
z z z

2 2
!
  1 kz k̄z 1 k̄ k2 k̄
bpi o; ō; kz ; k̄z ¼ ri oō 1 þ þ li Rpi R̄pi 1 þ 2 2z þ z z2
2 Rpi R̄pi 2 R̄pi R2pi R̄pi
2
!
kz k̄z k2 k̄
þ mi Rpi R̄pi 1þ2 þ z z2 ð21Þ
Rpi R̄pi R2pi R̄pi

and R̄si;pi ¼ Rsi;pi ðō; k̄z Þ, d̄ si;pi ¼ d si;pi ðō; k̄z Þ; where dsi,pi are the solutions of Eq. (8).
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
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The energy of transition radiation carried by the body waves is obtained by substituting Eq. (18) into
Eq. (12). This substitution followed by integration over x and z results in:
Z 1 Z 1 Z joj=csi;pi Z jōj=csi;pi
1     
E rsi;pi ¼ 2
bsi;pi d si;pi d̄ si;pi eitðōoÞ d kz  k̄z d R̄si;pi  Rsi;pi dk̄z dkz dō do, (22)
ð2pÞ 1 1 joj=csi;pi jōj=csi;pi
where d(y) is the Dirac delta-function.
R 1 To obtain Eq. (22), the following integral representation of the Dirac
delta-function was used: 2pdðaÞ ¼ 1 expðiaxÞ dx.
Employing the following properties of the Dirac delta-function:
Z 1 Z 1 
    f ðōÞ 
f k̄z d kz  k̄z dk̄z ¼ f ðkz Þ; f ðōÞdðgðōÞ  gðoÞÞ dō ¼   . (23)
1 1 dg=dō
ō¼o

Eq. (22) can be reduced to

Z 1 Z o=csi;pi
1  2
r
E si;pi ¼ 2 gsi;pi ðo; kz Þd si;pi ðo; kz Þ dkz do,
2p 0 o=csi;pi
! !
1 2 R2si 1 2 Rsi k2z R2si R4si o3 Rsi
gsi ðo; kz Þ ¼ ri csi oRsi 1 þ 2 þ mi csi 1 þ 2 2 þ 4 ¼ ri 2 ,
2 kz 2 o kz kz kz
! !2
1 k2 1 R3pi k2 o3
gpi ðo; kz Þ ¼ ri c2pi oRpi 1 þ 2z þ ri c4pi 1 þ 2z ¼ ri . ð24Þ
2 Rpi 2 o Rpi Rpi

Note that in Eq. (24) the radiation energy is time independent. This result is transparent from the physical
viewpoint because in the limit of t-N, the energy of the radiation fields is constant owing to the spatial
separation of the wave fields and absence of damping.
Conventionally, radiation energy is quantified by the directivity diagram, which shows the energy
distribution in space for a particular frequency. The directivity diagram can be obtained from Eq. (24) by
introducing the polar coordinate system in the wavenumber domain: kx ¼ k cos j, kz ¼ k sin j, where k is the
length of the wavenumber vector that is equal to joj=cpi for the pressure waves and to joj=csi for the shear
waves. Substitution of kz ¼ joj=csi;pi sin j into Eq. (24) gives the following expressions:
Z 1 Z 3p=2 Z 1 Z p=2
r 1 r 1
E s1;p1 ¼ o Qs1;p1 ðjÞ dj do; E s2;p2 ¼ o Qs2;p2 ðjÞ dj do,
0 p=2 0 p=2

r o4  2 r o4  2
Qsi ðjÞ ¼ i 2 d si ðo; jÞ cot2 ðjÞ; Qpi ðjÞ ¼ i 2 d pi ðo; jÞ . ð25Þ
2p 2p
Eq. (25) shows that the spectral angular energy densities of radiation Qsi;pi ðjÞ=o are separable into the
frequency-dependent part o1 and the angular density Qsi,pi(j). This separability is due to the non-dispersive
character of the continuum (two half-planes) under consideration. Owing to o1 in the integrands, the
radiation energies E rsi;pi are divergent, which is a direct consequence of the divergent eigenfield of a point load
in the elastic continuum.
The angular density of radiation forward, Qs2,p2(j), and backward, Qs1,p1(j), are different and depend on
the parameters of the half-planes and the load velocity. These dependencies are analyzed in Section 5, together
with the part of transition radiation propagated in the form of interface waves. An expression for the latter is
obtained in the next section.

4. Transition radiation of interface waves

Transition radiation can also propagate in the form of interface waves provided that the continuum
parameters satisfy the condition of existence of Stoneley waves [7]. The energy of this radiation can be
calculated by considering the energy flux S ðStez Þ ðx; z; tÞ of interface waves through the planes z-7N.
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ez Þ
According to Ref. [9], the two parts of this flux that are associated with the motion of the left half-plane, SðSt1 ,
ðe z Þ
and right half-plane, SSt2 , can be expressed in terms of the continuum displacement as
ez Þ   
S ðSti ¼  li þ 2mi ðqz wSti Þðqt wSti Þ þ li ðqx uSti Þðqt wSti Þ þ mi ðqz uSti þ qx wSti Þqt uSti , (26)
where the vector-displacements uSti ðx; z; tÞ describe the contribution of Stoneley waves to the elastic field given
by Eq. (10). This contribution can be extracted from Eq. (10) by evaluating the integral over o with the help of
the contour integration method and the residue theorem [10].
The integral u~ free
i over o in Eq. (10) can be distinguished by rewriting this equation as
Z 1
free
ui ¼ ð2pÞ 1
u~ free
i exp ðikz zÞ dkz , (27)
1

where
Z 1 Z
 1
u~ free
i ¼ ð2pÞ1 u~~ si þ u~~ pi exp ðiotÞ do ¼ f ðoÞ do. (28)
1 1

In accordance with the contour integration method, the latter integral can be evaluated by considering o as
a complex value and closing the original integration path in the complex o-plane. It is convenient to close the
integration contour by a semicircle located in the lower half-plane of the complex o-plane as shown in Fig. 2.
In this case, owing to the fact that positive time moments are considered (interface waves will reach the planes
z-7N when t-+N), the integral over this semicircle vanishes as its radius tends to infinity. Therefore, the
integral in Eq. (28) can be represented as
Z 1 Z
f ðoÞ do ¼ 2pi o¼oRes ; ðf ðoÞÞ þ fðoÞ do. (29)
poles branch points
1 branch cuts
ð Þ
Im opoles o0

The first term on the right-hand side in Eq. (29) is the contribution of the poles located inside the chosen
contour, whereas the second term comprises the integrals around the branch points and over branch cuts that
would ensure that f(o) is a single-valued function in the o-plane.
Transition radiation of interface waves occurs if f(o) has poles 7oSt on real o-axis. These poles can be
found from the well-known Stoneley wave equation [6], which can also be obtained by equating the
determinant of the 4  4 matrix in Eq. (8) to zero.
The contribution of the ‘Stoneley’ poles o ¼ 7oSt describes propagating interface waves generated during
the load transition through the interface.
In Eq. (29) it is implicitly assumed that all poles have a non-zero imaginary part. This is correct provided
that an infinitely small dissipation is taken into account that would shift the poles from the real axis. This
dissipation must be accounted for in the Fourier analysis to avoid physically unrealistic waves propagating
from infinity [8]. One may account for small dissipation by replacing the Young’s modulus by the differential
operator E ð1 þ qt Þ. This replacement would result in complex wave speeds in the frequency–wavenumber

Im ()

−St St

Re ()

Fig. 2. Integration contour and position of the poles as used in calculation of transition radiation of the interface waves.
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domain and would correspond to the following shift of the ‘Stoneley’ poles: oSt ! oSt  idk2z , where d40
is a real constant dependent on the continuum parameters. Thus, both ‘Stoneley’ poles shift to the lower half-
plane independently of the sign of kz, as shown in Fig. 2. Consequently, both these poles contribute to the
elastic field associated with propagating interface waves.
According to the above-given explanation, the contribution u~ Sti of the ‘Stoneley’ poles to u~ free
i in Eq. (28) is
given as
  
u~ Sti ¼ i Res u~~ si þ u~~ pi exp ðiotÞ . (30)
o¼oSt

Substituting u~~ si ¼ d si Csi exp ðiRsi jxjÞ and u~~ pi ¼ d pi Cpi exp ðiRpi jxjÞ, one can rewrite this equation as
X
u~ Sti ¼ i Res ðd wave i Cwave i exp ðiRwave i jxjÞ exp ðiotÞÞ, (31)
o¼oSt
wave¼s;p

where the summation sign implies the superposition of the shear wave- and pressure wave-related quantities.
Introduction of a notation d si;pi ðo; kz Þ ¼ f si;pi ðo; kz Þ=gðo; kz Þ, which underlines that all dsi,pi have the same
denominator, allows to evaluate the residues in Eq. (31) and to write this equation as
i X   
u~ Sti ¼ 
 Cwave i exp ði Rwave i jxjÞo¼oSt f wave i exp ðiotÞo¼oSt  f wave i expði otÞo¼oSt .
qo g o¼oSt wave¼s;p
(32)
In obtaining Eq. (32), it was used that qo g is an odd function of o, whereas Csi,pi is an even function of o.
Evaluating Eq. (8) with the help of symbolic software, the following representation can be shown to be
valid:

f si;pi ðo; kz Þ
 1 s si;pi kz
  ¼ ; s
si;pi ¼ psi;pi ðcSt Þ  i q ðcSt Þ, (33)
qo gðo; kz Þ o¼oSt kz hðcSt Þ jkz j si;pi
where cSt ¼ oSt =kz is the Stoneley wave speed. The real functions h(cSt), psi,pi(cSt) and qsi,pi(cSt) can be
identified symbolically by evaluating Eq. (8).
Substituting Eq. (32) into Eq. (27) and using Eq. (33), the following expression is obtained for the elastic
field associated with transition radiation of interface (Stoneley) waves:
i X Z 1 Cwave i ðoSt ; kz Þ  
uSti ¼ eikz zjkz xjawave i sþ
wave i e
ikz cSt t
þ s
wave i e
ikz cSt t
dkz , (34)
2phðcSt Þ wave¼s;p 1 kz
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
where asi;pi ¼ 1  c2St =c2si;pi (the Stoneley wave speed is always smaller than the body wave speeds).
Obviously, Eq. (34) is the superposition of the Stoneley wave trains propagating downwards (uþ Sti ,
proportional to sþsi;pi ) and upwards (u 
Sti , proportional to s 
si;pi ). One can show that these wave trains carry the
same energy. Therefore, in the following, only radiation downwards carried by the displacement field uþ Sti is
evaluated. According to Eq. (34), this field is given as
i X Z 1 Cwave i ðoSt ; kz Þ
þ
uSti ¼ sþ
wave i ðoSt ; kz Þ exp ðikz ðz  cSt tÞ  jkz xjawave i Þ dkz . (35)
2phðcSt Þ wave¼s;p 1 kz

The energy E þ þ
St of the elastic field uSti can be calculated by integrating the energy flux of this field through
the plane z-7N. The integral to be evaluated reads:
Z 1 Z 0  Z 1 
ðe z Þ  ðe z Þ 
EþSt ¼ S St1  dx þ S St2  dx dt, (36)
1 1 z!þ1 0 z!þ1

ðez Þ
where S Sti
are given by Eq. (26) with the vector-displacement defined by Eq. (35).
The procedure of evaluation of Eq. (36) is similar to that described in Section 3. First, Eq. (35) is substituted
into the expression for the flux, Eq. (26). This gives a double integral over kz and k̄z . The latter integral is
substituted in Eq. (36) to give two quadruple integrals. As the next step, integration is accomplished in each of
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710 K.N. van Dalen, A.V. Metrikine / Journal of Sound and Vibration 310 (2008) 702–717

these two integrals

R 1 over time using the following integral representation of the Dirac delta-function:
2pdðkz  k̄z Þ ¼ 1 exp ðitðkz  k̄z ÞÞ dt. Then, with the help of the obtained delta-function, integration over
k̄z is accomplished to give two double integrals over kz and x. Note that these integrals do not depend on z.
Finally, integration over x can be easily accomplished as the integrands depend on x exponentially (see
Eq. (35)). The resulting expression can be written as
Z
 þ  1 1
EþSt ¼ PSt1 þ Pþ
St2 kz dkz , (37)
0

where
0  2   
mi @ 1 þ 3a2si  þ 2 bi  a2pi bi  4  þ 2 2 b2i asi þ api
2

Pþ
Sti ¼ 2
ssi þ 3 spi  þ   Re sþ þ
si spi
ph ðcSt Þ 2asi 2api api asi þ api
n   þ  o   n   þ  o 1
ai Re sþ þ
si spi þ a2si sþ
pi ssi  b2i  2 asi Re a2pi sþ þ
si spi þ sþ
pi ssi
þ   A,
api asi þ api
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
. 
sþ
si;pi ¼ psi;pi ðcSt Þ þ iqsi;pi ðcSt Þ; asi;pi ¼ 1  c2St c2si;pi ; bi ¼ cpi csi . ð38Þ

One can see from Eq. (37) that dependence of the energy of the radiated interface waves on the system
parameters is fully characterized by Pþ þ
Sti . The integral in this equation just shows that E St is divergent as well as
the energy carried by the pressure and shear waves.
In the next section the energy of transition radiation carried by both the body waves and the interface waves
is analyzed for a number of specific parameters of the system.

5. Parametric analysis of radiation energy

The energy of transition radiation is p

analyzed in this section as a function of two dimensionless parameters,
ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
namely V =minfcs1 ; cs2 g and cs2 =cs1 ¼ m2 r1 =m1 r2 . The first parameter is the ratio of the load speed and
the smallest shear wave speed. It characterizes how fast the load moves with respect to the body waves. The
second parameter is the ratio of the shear wave speeds in the half-planes. It characterizes parameters of the
half-planes.

270
240 300

210 330

180 0

0.001

150 30
0.002

120 0.003 60
90

Fig. 3. The angular energy density Qs (J m1) of the shear waves: (——) V ¼ 0.6 cs1 and (– – –) V ¼ 0.7 cs1.
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
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270
240 300

210 330

180 0

0.05

150 30
0.1

120 0.15 60
90

Fig. 4. The angular energy density Qs (J m1) of the shear waves for V ¼ 0.95 cs1.

270
240 300

210 330

180 0
0.0001

0.0002
150 30
0.0003

120 0.0004 60
90

Fig. 5. The angular energy density Qp (J m1) of the pressure waves: (——) V ¼ 0.6 cs1 and (– – –) V ¼ 0.7 cs1.

Figs. 3–6 show the directivity diagrams Qsi,pi(j) for a number of velocities of the load. These diagrams are
plotted in correspondence with Eq. (25) and using parameters given in Table 1. The load magnitude is chosen
as F z ¼ 1  104 N m1 and unaltered throughout this section.
Parameters in Table 1 correspond to loosely packed sand (i ¼ 1) and slightly more densely packed sand
(i ¼ 2) and are chosen such that Stoneley waves may exist.
In Figs. 3 and 4 the directivity diagram of radiated shear waves is depicted for three velocities of the load,
namely V ¼ 0:6cs1 ; V ¼ 0:7cs1 and V ¼ 0:95cs1 . These figures show that radiation backward and forward is
different. This is natural given different parameters of the half-planes and a non-zero load speed. One can also
see that though the largest amount of energy is radiated along the load path, there is another direction, in
which the radiation energy has its maximum (clearly visible in Fig. 3 for radiation backward). This maximum
is not anomalous and occurs because of interaction of shear and pressure waves near the interface. Another
feature of the directivity diagram is that it is symmetric with respect to the load path. This has to be so because
the radiation energy is proportional to Fz2 and, therefore, must possess this symmetry to be invariant with
respect to the sign of Fz. Finally, Figs. 3 and 4 show that the closer the load speed to the minimum shear speed
in the system the larger the radiation energy. This is a well-known feature of transition radiation [1,5].
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712 K.N. van Dalen, A.V. Metrikine / Journal of Sound and Vibration 310 (2008) 702–717

270
240 300

210 330

180 0
0.002

0.004

150 0.006 30

0.008

120 0.01 60
90

Fig. 6. The angular energy density Qp (J m1) of the pressure waves for V ¼ 0.95 cs1.

Table 1
Parameter values for Figs. 3–9

Ei (N m2) ri (kg m3) ni mi (N m2) csi (m s1) cpi (m s1)

i¼1 5  107 1700 0.35 1.852  107 104.370 217.3

i¼2 5.55  107 1960 0.30 2.135  107 104.374 195.3

Figs. 5 and 6 show the directivity diagram of radiated pressure waves for the same three velocities of the
load as above. One can see that the energy of pressure waves is much smaller than that of the shear waves
(compare Fig. 5 to Fig. 3, for example). This can be attributed to the direction of the load action, which is
tangential to the interface. Further, in contrast to energy distribution in the pulse of shear waves, the
maximum of radiation is directed not along the load path but sideways. The angle corresponding to this
maximum depends on the parameters of the half-planes. The symmetry of the directivity diagram with respect
to the loading path can be explained using the same reasoning as for shear waves.
In Fig. 7 the energy of the interface waves is compared to that of the body waves. For the sake of clarity
only energy of shear waves radiated into the left half-plane is depicted (these waves are most powerful for the
chosen set of parameters: cs1 ¼ minfcs1 ; cs2 g). The energy of the interface waves is characterized by
PSt ¼ Pþ þ
St1 þ PSt2 , in accordance with Eq. (37). To enable comparison, the energy of the shear waves is
characterized by the following integral of the angular density (see Eq. (25)):
Z 3p=2
Ps1 ¼ Qs1 ðjÞ dj. (39)
p=2

Both PSt and Ps1 are made dimensionless by multiplying by m1/Fz2 and depicted as functions of
V =minfcs1 ; cs2 g using parameters given in Table 1. Fig. 7 shows that for relatively low velocities of the load
almost all energy of transition radiation is carried by the Stoneley waves. However, the closer the load velocity
to the velocity of body waves, the greater the energy of the body waves. In the limit of V-cs1, transition
radiation of the body waves becomes very powerful. The energy of the Stoneley waves stays bounded also for
V-cSt, because the load is moving along a path that is perpendicular to the direction of propagation. As a
consequence resonance cannot occur.
To investigate dependence of transition radiation on the direction of the load motion, it is illustrative to
interchange parameters of the half-planes. The result is shown in Figs. 8 and 9 that are plotted using
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x 10-6
4

3.5

2.5
PSt,s1µ1/F2z

1.5

0.5

0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
V/min (csi)

Fig. 7. Normalized energies of the interface and shear waves versus normalized load velocity: (——) Ps1m1/F2z and (– – –) PStm1/F2z .

270 270
240 300 240 300

210 330 210 330

180 0 180 0

0.001 0.001

150 30 150 30
0.002 0.002

120 0.003 60 120 0.003 60

90 90
1
Fig. 8. The angular energy density Qs (J m ) of shear waves for V ¼ 0.7 min{cs1, cs2}: (a) original parameters of the half-planes and
(b) interchanged parameters.

parameters specified in Table 1. In Fig. 8(a), the directivity diagram of the shear waves is depicted for the
original parameters of the half-planes and V ¼ 0.7 min{cs1, cs2}. In Fig. 8(b), this diagram is shown for the
interchanged parameters (the right half-plane is given parameters of the left half-plane and vice versa). One
can see that though the diagrams in Fig. 8 differ, the difference is marginal. Note that if the difference in
parameters of the half-planes would be more pronounced than that given by Table 1, interchanging the half-
planes would correspond to a larger difference in the directivity diagram.
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714 K.N. van Dalen, A.V. Metrikine / Journal of Sound and Vibration 310 (2008) 702–717

270 270
240 300 240 300

210 330 210 330

180 0 180 0

0.0001 0.0001

0.0002 0.0002
150 30 150 30
0.0003 0.0003

120 0.0004 60 120 0.0004 60

90 90

Fig. 9. The angular energy density Qp (J m1) of pressure waves for V ¼ 0.7 min{cs1, cs2}: (a) original parameters of the half-planes and
(b) interchanged parameters.

x 10-6
1.8

1.6

1.4

1.2
PStµ1/Fz2

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
1.1524 1.1526 1.1528 1.153 1.1532 1.1534
µ2/µ1

Fig. 10. Normalized energy of the interface waves versus the stiffness ratio of the half-planes.

The pressure waves are much more susceptible to the interchange of the half-planes. This can be seen in
Fig. 9, which presents the directivity diagram of the radiated pressure waves (this figure is plotted in the same
manner and using the same parameters as Fig. 8). Indeed, Figs. 9(a) and (b) differ dramatically, especially
regarding the radiation forward that nearly disappears after the interchange of parameters.
The interface wave radiation is not influenced by the interchange of the parameters of the half-planes. It
depends strongly, however, on the stiffness ratio m2/m1 and the mass density ratio r2/r1 of the half-planes. To
show this dependence, Figs. 10 and 11 are plotted assuming the load velocity to be equal to V ¼ 50 m s1.
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x 10-4
1.5

1
PStµ1/F2z

0.5

0
0.95 0.96 0.97 0.98 0.99 1 1.01 1.02 1.03
cs2/cs1

Fig. 11. Normalized energy of the interface waves versus the ratio of shear wave velocities in the half-planes.

Table 2
Parameters of the right half-plane for Figs. 10 and 11

E2 (N m2) r2 (kg m3) n2 m2 (N m2) cs2 (m s1) cp2 (m s1)

Fig. 10 Co-vary 1960 0.30 Vary Co-vary Co-vary

Fig. 11 8  107 Vary 0.30 3.077  107 Co-vary Co-vary

Table 3
Parameters of the right half-plane for Figs. 12 and 13

E2 (N m2) r2 (kg m3) n2 m2 (N m2) cs2 (m s1) cp2 (m s1)

Vary 1960 0.30 Co-vary Co-vary Co-vary

Parameters of the left half-plane are taken from Table 1 (for i ¼ 1), whereas parameters of the right half-plane
are varied as specified in Table 2.
The energy of the interface waves is characterized by the dimensionless ratio PSt m1 =F 2z ¼ ðPþ þ 2
St1 þ PSt2 Þm1 =F z ,
þ
where PSti are defined by Eq. (37). Fig. 10 presents dependence of the normalized PSt on the stiffness ratio
m2/m1, whereas Fig. 11 shows PSt versus cs2/cs1 (only r2/r1 is varied to change cs2/cs1).
Figs. 10 and 11 show that transition radiation of the interface waves exists in a relatively narrow domain of
parameters of the half-planes. As mentioned earlier, this domain is distinguished by existence of Stoneley
waves in the system. The energy of transition radiation reaches its maximum somewhere within this domain of
parameters.
As the last step of the parametric analysis, dependence is studied of the radiation energy transferred by the
body waves on the contrast of parameters of the half-planes. This contrast is characterized by the ratio of the
shear wave speeds cs2/cs1. Parameters of the left half-plane are taken from Table 1 (for i ¼ 1) whereas
parameters of the right half-plane are varied as specified in Table 3.
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270
240 300

210 330

180 0
0.002
0.004
150 0.006 30
0.008

120 0.01 60
90

Fig. 12. The angular energy density Qs2 (J m1) of shear waves radiated forward for increasing cs2/cs1: (– – )
cs2/cs1 ¼ 1.10; (– . – . – . ), cs2/cs1; (——) cs2/cs1 ¼ 11.0.

270
240 300

210 330

180 0
0.0001

0.0002
150 30
0.0003

120 0.0004 60
90

Fig. 13. The angular energy density Qp2 (J m1) of pressure waves radiated forward for increasing cs2/cs1: (– – –)
cs2/cs1 ¼ 1.10; (– . – . –) cs2/cs1 ¼ 1.20; (——) cs2/cs1 ¼ 11.0.

Figs. 12 and 13 show directivity diagrams of the shear waves and pressure waves, respectively, for three
ratios of cs2/cs1. Both figures have been plotted with V ¼ 50 m s1.
One can see from Figs. 12 and 13 that the radiation energy depends strongly on the contrast of parameters
of the half-spaces. This contrast influences both the amount of energy radiated into a certain angle and the
shape of the directivity diagram (Fig. 12). The energy distribution between the shear and pressure waves is also
affected. Finally, it is important to note that dependence of the energy densities Qs,p on the contrast of
parameters is not monotonic. Increase of the contrast does not necessarily lead to increase of the radiation
energy.

6. Conclusions and discussion

Transition radiation of elastic waves that occurs as a load crosses the interface of two elastic half-planes has
been investigated in this paper. It has been shown that the body waves are emitted by the load irrespective of
its velocity and parameters of the half-planes. These waves are not radiated only if the load is not moving or
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K.N. van Dalen, A.V. Metrikine / Journal of Sound and Vibration 310 (2008) 702–717 717

parameters of the half-planes do not differ. In addition to the body waves, interface waves can be radiated.
Radiation of these waves occurs if parameters of the half-planes allow existence of Stoneley waves. If Stoneley
waves may exist, transition radiation of interface waves occurs at any non-zero speed of the load. According to
the authors’ knowledge, transition radiation of interface waves has never been described in the past.
The study presented in this paper has shown that transition radiation in elastic continua has a number of
specific features that are not present in transition radiation of electromagnetic and acoustic waves. These
features stem from the fact that three types of waves may exist in an elastic continuum with interfaces, namely
the pressure, shear and interface waves. These waves interfere in the process of formation of transition
radiation. As a result of this interference, the energy and directivity of radiation transferred by these waves can
depend on parameters of the continuum in a peculiar manner. In electrodynamics and acoustics, only one type
of waves is normally radiated and the characteristics of these waves are much less peculiar than in
elastodynamics. Thus, in the opinion of the authors of this paper, significant contribution can be made to the
general theory of transitional radiation by studying it in elastic continua.
This paper has not been aimed at obtaining practically applicable results. On the contrary, the most
simplistic model has been chosen to demonstrate as clearly as possible the main features of transition radiation
in elastic continua. As a next step, more practically relevant models have to be investigated. For example,
radiation can be studied from a load that moves over the surface of an inhomogeneous half-space (a
superstructure between the load the half-space can be added as well). The half-space can be composed of two
homogeneous quarter-spaces, have layers with interfaces that are not parallel to the surface or simply have
some objects on the surface. In all these cases transition radiation would occur. The results of the above
studies would be interesting for railway engineering because it would help predict generation of ground
vibration by a train that moves over inhomogeneous subsoil and in a built environment.

Acknowledgement

The first author is grateful to the supervisors of his Ph.D. project, Dr. G.G. Drijkoningen and Prof. C.P.A.
Wapenaar of the Applied Geophysics and Petrophysics section, for giving the opportunity to write this paper
about his M.Sc. project.

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