We consider the time-harmonic problem of the diffraction of an incident propagative mode by a localized defect, in an infinite elastic waveguide. We propose several iterative algorithms to compute an approximate solution of the problem, using a classical finite element discretization in a small area around the perturbation, and a modal expansion in the unbounded straight parts of the guide. Each algorithm can be related to a so-called domain decomposition method, with an overlap between the domains. Specific transmission conditions are used, so that at each step of the algorithm only the sparse finite element matrix has to be inverted, the modal expansion being obtained by a simple projection, using a bi-orthogonality relation. The benefit of using an overlap between the finite element domain and the modal domain is emphasized. An original choice of transmission conditions is proposed which enhances the effect of the overlap and allows us to handle arbitrary anisotropic materials. As a by-product, we derive transparent boundary conditions for an arbitrary anisotropic waveguide. The transparency of these new boundary conditions is checked for two- and three-dimensional anisotropic waveguides. Finally, in the isotropic case, numerical validation for two- and three-dimensional waveguides illustrates the efficiency of the new approach, compared to other existing methods, in terms of number of iterations and CPU time.