Thermal coupling of waves in a plate

It is shown within the framework of the linear theory of thermoelasticity that, for thermal radiation conditions at the boundary, pure compressional and flexural modes of motion cannot exist in a traction-free plate. Rigorously, the modes become uncoupled only for the special cases of isothermal and adiabatic boundary conditions; approximately, however, they are uncoupled even in the general case if the analysis is confined to the lowest-order terms in the small dimensionless frequency associated with such problems. Then the motions represent generalizations of the classical Rayleigh-Lamb waves. The effect of thermal conductivity is to reduce the phase velocity and introduce dissipation, and it is noticeable primarily for long waves.