A mathematical analysis of the strip-element method for the computation of dispersion curves of guided waves in anisotropic layered media (Q1958914)

Summary: Dispersion curves of elastic guided waves in plates can be efficiently computed by the Strip-Element Method. This method is based on a finite-element discretization in the thickness direction of the plate and leads to an eigenvalue problem relating frequencies to wavenumbers of the wave modes. In this paper we present a rigorous mathematical background of the Strip-Element Method for anisotropic media including a thorough analysis of the corresponding infinite-dimensional eigenvalue problem as well as a proof of the existence of eigenvalues.