Modeling of the Propagation of Seismic Waves in Non-Classical Media: Reduced Cosserat Continuum

In rock mechanics, elastic wave propagation is usually modeled in terms of classical elasticity. There are situations, however, when rock behaviour is still elastic but cannot be described by the classical model. In particular, current effective medium theories, based on classical elasticity, do not properly describe strong dispersive or attenuative behaviour of wave propagation observed sometimes. The approach we have taken to address this problem is to introduce supplementary and independent degrees of freedom of material particles, in our case rotational ones. Various models of this kind are widely used in continuum mechanics: Cosserat theory, micropolar model of Eringen, Cosserat pseudocontinuum, reduced Cosserat continuum etc. We have considered the reduced Cosserat medium where the couple stress is zero, while the rotation vector is independent of the translational displacement. In this model, the stress depends on the rotation of a particle relatively to the background continuum of mass centers, but it does not depend on the relative rotation of two neighboring particles. This model seems to be adequate for the description of granular media, consolidated soils, and rocks with inhomogeneous microstructure. A real inhomogeneous medium is considered as effective homogeneous enriched continuum, where proper rotational dynamics of inhomogeneities are taken into account by means of rotation of a particle of the enriched continuum. We have obtained and analyzed theoretical solutions for this model describing the propagation of body waves and surface waves. We have shown both the dispersive character of these waves in elastic space and half space, and the existence of forbidden frequency zones. These results can be used for the preparation, execution, and interpretation of seismic experiments, which would allow one to determine whether (and in which situations) polar theories are important in rock mechanics, and to help with the identification of material parameters of the reduced Cosserat continuum.