On the encounter of an acoustic shear pulse with a phase boundary in an elastic material: Energy and dissipation (Q1198448)

The author has examined the fully dynamical motion of a phase boundary for a specific class of materials whose stress-strain relation in simple shear is not monotone. In one of his previous works, the author has shown that a pre-existing stationary phase boundary in such a material can be set into motion by a finite amplitude shear pulse and that many solutions are possible. In this work, the author examined these solutions in detail from energy and dissipation perspective. It is also shown that there exist at most two solutions which involve no dissipation. He further showed that there exists one solution that maximizes the mechanical energy dissipation rate. The total mechanical energy remaining in the dynamical fields after one such pulse-phase boundary encounter is shown to exceed the total mechanical energy after either an energy minimal quasi-static motion or a maximally dissipative quasi-static motion. This work might be quite interesting for those researchers working in the area of phase boundaries in finite elasticity.