Nonlinear axial shear wave propagation in a hyperelastic incompressible solid (Q1084909)

This paper is concerned with the propagation of axial shear waves in an incompressible isotropic hyperelastic solid, whose strain energy function is expressible as a power series in \((I_ 1-3)\) and \((I_ 2-3)\), where \(I_ 1\) and \(I_ 2\) are the first and second basic invariants of the left Cauchy-Green tensor B. Numerical solutions are presented for problems of wave propagation produced by a step function application, or a finite duration pulse, of axial shear stress at the surface of a cylindrical cavity in an unbounded medium. A modification of MacCormack's finite difference scheme is proposed and is used to obtain these solutions along with a procedure for the determination of the position of the shock front for the step function application. An estimate of the breaking time of a wave, obtained from a procedure proposed by \textit{G. B. Whitham} [Commun. Pure Appl. Math. 5, 301-348 (1952; Zbl 0047.191)] is compared with the numerical results. The dissipation of mechanical energy due to shock propagation is considered.