Reflection of Acceleration Waves in an Elastic-Plastic Medium

The reflected waves generated when an acceleration wave advancing into a quiescent region reaches the boundary of a prestressed elastic-plastic solid are determined. Depending on the nature of the incident wave, there may be one to four reflected waves generated. It is shown that one of eight reflected wave patterns is produced provided that the critical incident angle is not exceeded. When this angle is exceeded, a solution may still exist. However, the two reflected waves are then both associated with slow wave speeds rather than one with a fast wave speed and the other with a slow wave speed. Numerical examples are provided.