Rayleigh surface waves in an idealised partially saturated soil

The Rayleigh wave is a surface wave resulting from interference of the compressional and shear waves at the ground surface. In the vibration of foundations at the ground surface, a large proportion of the input energy is transmitted away by the Rayleigh wave, which decays much more slowly with distance than the compressional and shear waves (Richart et al., 1970), suggesting that the Rayleigh wave is of primary concern in the design of machine foundations. Of particular interest is the application of Rayleigh waves in geotechnical site characterisation. Over the past three decades useful methods have been...