Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 October 2008
The propagation of plane waves in a viscoelastic body representing a parallel union of the Kelvin and Maxwell bodies placed in a magneto-thermal field is investigated. It is shown that the longitudinal component of the wave is in general coupled with a transverse component and the wave travels in two families. In particular if the primary magnetic field is either parallel or perpendicular to the direction of wave propagation, the three components of the wave travel unlinked, with either the longitudinal component or the transverse components unaffected by the presence of the electromagnetic field. If the electrical conductivity of the solid is infinite the effect of the primary magnetic field is to increase the values of the material constants. The effect of wave propagation on magnetic permeability is equivalent to an anisotropic rescaling of the primary magnetic field. Some of the results obtained in the earlier works are obtained as particular cases of the more general results derived here.