Wave propagation in a thin-walled liquid-filled initially stressed tube

Abstract

Wave propagation through a thin-walled cylindrical orthotropic viscoelastic initially stressed tube filled with a Newtonian fluid is discussed. Special attention is drawn to the influence of the initial stretch on the wave propagation. It is shown that initial stretching of real arteries enhances the propagation of blood pressure pulses in mammalian arteries. The dispersion equation for the initial-value problem of a semi-infinite tube is also derived. It is shown that the speed of propagation and the attenuation vary with the distance from the support. The results obtained for the axial wave mode provide an explanation for the experimental observations, which is not possible with the results obtained for the infinite tube.