Reflection—refraction of general P-and type-I S-waves in elastic and anelastic solids

Summary. The reflection and refraction of general (homogeneous or inhomo-geneous) plane P and type-I S ( SV ) body waves incident on plane boundaries are considered for general linear viscoelastic solids. Reflection—refraction laws, physical characteristics of the waves, and the nature of critical angles are examined in detail at welded boundaries and a free surface. General visco-elasticity with no low-loss approximations predicts that contrasts in intrinsic absorption at boundaries give rise to inhomogeneous reflected and refracted waves with elliptical particle motions, velocities and maximum attenuations that vary with frequency and angle of incidence, energy propagation at speeds and directions different from phase propagation, phase propagation that in general is parallel to the boundary for at most one angle of incidence, and reflection—transmission coefficients dependent on energy flow due to wave interaction. None of these physical characteristics are predicted for waves incident on boundaries that respond instantaneously.