This paper investigates the propagation of surface waves in fibre-reinforced electrically conducting elastic solid media permeated by a primary magnetic field. First, the theory of general surface waves has been derived and then this theory has been ap- plied to study Rayleigh, Love and Stoneley type of waves, which are the special cases of the above surface waves. The frequency equations are found in every case. The results obtained in this paper may be considered as more general in the sense that some other important formulas investigated by different authors may be deduced from our result as special cases. Combined effect of magnetic field, electrical conductivity and the reinforcement of the medium on the propagation of Rayleigh and Love type of waves have been studied numerically with graphical representations. Numerical study of the Stoneley waves is not pursued due to its complicated nature. It is found that the presence of magnetic field in electrically conducting fibre-reinforced media modulates the Rayleigh wave velocity to a considerable extent. Though the fibre-reinforcement has a significant effect on the propagation of Love waves, magnetic field has no role to play in this case. The modulation of Love wave velocity due to fibre-reinforcement has also been studied numerically.

Received: 2007-05-20
Revised : 2009-03-03
Accepted: 2009-03-03