A special relation between Young's modulus, Rayleigh-wave velocity, and Poisson's ratio.

Bayon et al. [(2005). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 117, 3469-3477] described a method for the determination of Young's modulus by measuring the Rayleigh-wave velocity and the ellipticity of Rayleigh waves, and found a peculiar almost linear relation between a non-dimensional quantity connecting Young's modulus, Rayleigh-wave velocity and density, and Poisson's ratio. The analytical reason for this special behavior remained unclear. It is demonstrated here that this behavior is a simple consequence of the mathematical form of the Rayleigh-wave velocity as a function of Poisson's ratio. The consequences for auxetic materials (those materials for which Poisson's ratio is negative) are discussed, as well as the determination of the shear and bulk moduli.