Effects of coupled interfacial imperfections on SH wave propagation in a layered multiferroic cylinder

•SH-wave is studied in a multiferroic cylinder having coupled interfacial imperfections.•Dispersion equations of SH waves are derived and numerically solved.•Effects of interfacial imperfections and their inter-couplings on phase velocity are revealed.

Although SH-wave propagation in layered multiferroic composites with imperfect interfaces has been widely investigated, the effects of interfacial imperfection couplings still remain as an un-tackled problem deserving studying. The present paper considered the SH-wave propagation in a bi-layered multiferroic cylinder that has inter-coupled magnetic, electric and mechanical imperfections on the interface. The dispersion equations of SH waves are derived and numerically solved. Parametric studies are conducted on the numerical results to reveal the effects of interfacial imperfections and their inter-couplings on phase velocity. Discussion here yields four main conclusions, which can serve as guidelines for the optimal design of multiferroic composites and the related smart devices.