Longitudinal wave propagation. Part I - Comparison of rod theories

The paper introduces new four spectral elements for analysis of longitudinal wave propagation in structures. The developed elements are based on the elementary, Love, Mindlin-Herrmann and three-mode theories. Certain differences in wave propagation behaviour are observed for the analysed models. For lower excitation frequencies the results obtained for all models are similar and from a practical point of view the spectral element based on the Love theory is adequate. For high frequency excitation these differences are considerable and only the Mindlin-Herrmann or three-mode models give correct results. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.