Third- and fourth-order constants of incompressible soft solids and the acousto-elastic effect

Acousto-elasticity is concerned with the propagation of small-amplitude waves in deformed solids. Results previously established for the incremental elastodynamics of exact non-linear elasticity are useful for the determination of third- and fourth-order elastic constants, especially in the case of incompressible isotropic soft solids, where the expressions are particularly simple. Specifically, it is simply a matter of expanding the expression for ρv2, where ρ is the mass density and v the wave speed, in terms of the elongation e of a block subject to a uniaxial tension. The analysis shows that in the resulting expression: ρv2=a+be+ce2, say, a depends linearly on μ; b on μ and A; and c on μ, A, and D, the respective second-, third, and fourth-order constants of incompressible elasticity, for bulk shear waves and for surface waves.