Complex slowness vector for generalised propagation of harmonic plane waves at the boundaries of real materials

This study considers the propagation of harmonic plane waves in general anisotropic dissipative media. This propagation is governed by a complex slowness vector, which is resolved into a propagation vector and an attenuation vector. The attenuation part is decomposed into homogeneous attenuation and evanescent attenuation. This makes a generalised specification of slowness vector to represent (in)homogeneous propagation in (an)isotropic (an)elastic media. This specification applies to incident waves, scattered waves as well as surface/interface waves at the plane boundary of the medium. With the choice of involved parameters, this specification can represent the corresponding wave-fields in the absence of anisotropy and/or dissipation. This specification has been used to formulate a corrected procedure for the reflection of plane waves in a transversely isotropic piezothermoelastic medium.