Computer Analysis of Slow and Fast Waves in a Composite Material

New features of slow and fast modes of a plane wave in a composite material are analyzed. The composite is modeled by a linear structural model of elastic mixture. Quantitative estimates for wave modes in specific composites are proposed for the first time. The following four questions are answered: (i) Are there modes equally dispersive over the entire frequency range allowed for the mixture model? (ii) What is the difference between the phase velocities of the slow and fast modes in real materials? (iii) What are the frequency ranges in which the modes propagating in one component of the composite undergo in-phase and anti-phase oscillations? (iv) What are the frequency ranges in which particles of both composite components where one mode propagates undergo in-phase and anti-phase oscillations? For the computer analysis, we select eight composites with full sets of physical constants. The answers are based on three groups of 16 graphs of wave number versus frequency, phase velocity versus frequency, and amplitude versus frequency.