Transmission characteristics of Bleustein-Gulyaev waves at a corner

This paper describes a theoretical study of the diffraction of Bleustein-Gulyaev waves at a corner of a homogeneous elastic wedge formed by two stress-free and metalized planes. First, an integral representation theorem is obtained for shear horizontal elastic waves in a semi-infinite piezoelectric medium, on the assumption that the surface of the medium is coated with an infinitely thin conducting layer. Then, with the use of an integral equation method, the problem of the diffraction of Bleustein-Gulyaev waves at a given corner is formulated. With first-order approximations, the transmitted Bleustein-Gulyaev waves and diffracted bulk shear waves are obtained. To obtain a qualitative idea of the propagation characteristics of Bleustein-Gulyaev waves at a corner, numerical illustrations of the transmission coefficient for Bleustein-Gulyaev waves are shown together with those of the diffracted power and diffraction pattern for the bulk shear waves.