Rayleigh waves obtained by the indeterminate couple-stress theory

Rayleigh waves in a linear elastic couple-stress medium are investigated; the constitutive equations involve a length parameter l that characterizes the microstructure of the material. With c̃R=Rayleigh speed, cT=conventional transversal speed and q=wave number, an explicit expression is derived for the relation between c̃R/cT, lq and Poissonʹs ratio ν. The Rayleigh speed turns out to be dispersive and always larger than the conventional Rayleigh speed. It is of interest that when lq=1 and ν≥0, it always holds that c̃R/cT=2. The displacement field is investigated and it is shown that no Rayleigh wave motions exist when lq→∞ and when lq=1, ν≥0. Moreover, a principal change of the displacement field occurs when lq passes unity. The peculiarity that no Rayleigh wave motions exist when lq=1, ν≥0 may support the criticism by Eringen (1968) against the couple-stress theory adopted here as well as in much recent literature.