Stress-Intensification Near a Semi-Infinite Rigid-Smooth Strip Due to Diffraction of Elastic Waves

Scattering of plane harmonic compressional and shear waves (P and SV-waves) by a semi-infinite rigid-smooth strip or ribbon which is a plane barrier with its top and bottom surfaces being confined normally, but free in lateral directions, is treated. Under the condition that displacements must be regular, exact solutions for the combined incident and scattered-wave fields are obtained in terms of Weber’s parabolic cylinder functions. Principal stresses are calculated on both sides of the strip and the stresses are shown to be singular of the order (kr)^−1/2, where k is the incident wave number and r the radial distance from the tip.