Standing shear waves in rubberlike layered media

Standing shear waves arising in layered media the shear modulus of which varies in a stepwise manner at the plain boundaries between the layers are considered. A general solution is obtained for the shear wave amplitudes in a resonator with an N-layer structure the lower boundary of which performs harmonic vibrations while a finite-mass plate is attached to the upper boundary. Results of calculations and measurements are presented for a resonator with a structure in which nondeformable metal layers alternate with elastic rubberlike polymer layers. It is shown that the resonance frequencies of such a resonator can be controlled by changing the number of layers and their thicknesses. It is demonstrated, both experimentally and theoretically, that, from the resonance curve of a resonator with a two-layer structure, it is possible to determine the shear modulus of one of the layers under the condition that the elasticity of the other layer is known. The method of separation into a finite number of layers is used to analyze the resonance characteristics of a one-dimensional resonator filled with a rubberlike medium the properties of which continuously vary in the direction perpendicular to the shear displacements. The choice of the number of layers depending on the type of inhomogeneity is analyzed.