Acoustomechanical constitutive theory for soft materials

Abstract

Acoustic wave propagation from surrounding medium into a soft material can generate acoustic radiation stress due to acoustic momentum transfer inside the medium and material, as well as at the interface between the two. To analyze acoustic-induced deformation of soft materials, we establish an acoustomechanical constitutive theory by combining the acoustic radiation stress theory and the nonlinear elasticity theory for soft materials. The acoustic radiation stress tensor is formulated by time averaging the momentum equation of particle motion, which is then introduced into the nonlinear elasticity constitutive relation to construct the acoustomechanical constitutive theory for soft materials. Considering a specified case of soft material sheet subjected to two counter-propagating acoustic waves, we demonstrate the nonlinear large deformation of the soft material and analyze the interaction between acoustic waves and material deformation under the conditions of total reflection, acoustic transparency, and acoustic mismatch.