Compressing the memory variables in constant-Q viscoelastic wave propagation via an improved sum-of-exponentials approximation

Earth introduces strong attenuation and dispersion to propagating waves. The time-fractional wave equation with very small fractional exponent, based on Kjartansson's constant-Q theory, is widely recognized in the field of geophysics as a reliable model for frequency-independent Q anelastic behavior. Nonetheless, the numerical resolution of this equation poses considerable challenges due to the requirement of storing a complete time history of wavefields. To address this computational challenge, we present a novel approach: a nearly optimal sum-of-exponentials (SOE) approximation to the Caputo fractional derivative with very small fractional exponent, utilizing the machinery of generalized Gaussian quadrature. This method minimizes the number of memory variables needed to approximate the power attenuation law within a specified error tolerance. We establish a mathematical equivalence between this SOE approximation and the continuous fractional stress-strain relationship, relating it to the generalized Maxwell body model. Furthermore, we prove an improved SOE approximation error bound to thoroughly assess the ability of rheological models to replicate the power attenuation law. Numerical simulations on constant-Q viscoacoustic equation in 3D homogeneous media and variable-order P- and S- viscoelastic wave equations in 3D inhomogeneous media are performed. These simulations demonstrate that our proposed technique accurately captures changes in amplitude and phase resulting from material anelasticity. This advancement provides a significant step towards the practical usage of the time-fractional wave equation in seismic inversion.Comment: 28 pages, 52 figures, 6 table

Free and forced propagation of Bloch waves in viscoelastic beam lattices

Beam lattice materials can be characterized by a periodic microstructure realizing a geometrically regular pattern of elementary cells. Within this framework, governing the free and forced wave propagation by means of spectral design techniques and/or energy dissipation mechanisms is a major issue of theoretical interest with applications in aerospace, chemical, naval, biomedical engineering. The first part of the Thesis addresses the free propagation of Bloch waves in non-dissipative microstructured cellular materials. Focus is on the alternative formulations suited to describe the wave propagation in the bidimensional infinite material domain, according to the classic canons of linear solid or structural mechanics. Adopting the centrosymmetric tetrachiral cell as prototypical periodic topology, the frequency dispersion spectrum is obtained by applying the Floquet-Bloch theory. The dispersion spectrum resulting from a synthetic Lagrangian beam lattice formulation is compared with its counterpart derived from different continuous models (high-fidelity first-order heterogeneous and equivalent homogenized micropolar continua). Asymptotic perturbation-based approximations and numerical spectral solutions are compared and cross-validated. Adopting the low-frequency band gaps of the dispersion spectrum as functional targets, parametric analyses are carried out to highlight the descriptive limits of the synthetic models and to explore the enlarged parameter space described by high-fidelity models. The microstructural design or tuning of the mechanical properties of the cellular microstructure is employed to successfully verify the wave filtering functionality of the tetrachiral material. Alternatively, band gaps in the material spectrum can be opened at target center frequencies by using metamaterials with inertial resonators. Based on these motivations, in the second part of the Thesis, a general dynamic formulation is presented for determining the dispersion properties of viscoelastic metamaterials, equipped with local dissipative resonators. The linear mechanism of local resonance is realized by tuning periodic auxiliary masses, viscoelastically coupled with the beam lattice microstructure. As peculiar aspect, the viscoelastic coupling is derived by a mechanical formulation based on the Boltzmann superposition integral, whose kernel is approximated by a Prony series. Consequently, the free propagation of damped Bloch waves is governed by a linear homogeneous system of integro-differential equations of motion. Therefore, differential equations of motion with frequency-dependent coefficients are obtained by applying the bilateral Laplace transform. The corresponding complex-valued branches characterizing the dispersion spectrum are determined and parametrically analyzed. Particularly, the spectra corresponding to Taylor series approximations of the equation coefficients are investigated. The standard dynamic equations with linear viscous damping are recovered at the first order approximation. Increasing approximation orders determine non-negligible spectral effects, including the occurrence of pure damping spectral branches. Finally, the forced response to harmonic single frequency external forces in the frequency and the time domains is investigated. The response in the time domain is obtained by applying the inverse bilateral Laplace transform. The metamaterial responses to non-resonant, resonant and quasi-resonant external forces are compared and discussed from a qualitative and quantitative viewpoint

Rheological Methods and Their Application To Biological Systems

Pectin is a major component of the primary plant cell wall and is known to play an important role in many physiological processes. It also has has many uses in the food and biomedical industries as it is abundant, mechanochemically versatile and non-toxic. However, the relationship between its chemistry and mechanical properties is not fully understood. In this thesis, pectin in vitro and the pectin-rich outer cells of Arabidopsis seedlings are studied using an AFM methodology adapted from the animal rheology literature. The effects of the degree of methylation, and degree of blockiness on the viscoelastic properties of pectin are explored. Elastic and viscous properties of pectin are found to be negatively correlated with its degree of methylesterification, whilst elastic properties are positively correlated with its degree of blockiness. Mixed gels, composed of pectin with differing degrees of methylesterification are also investigated and their parameters are found to scale in accordance with their volume fraction. In vivo mechanical properties observed in the Arabidopsis hypocotyl are harder to disentangle, but a number of interesting differences between transverse and axial cell walls are observed. A modelling approach is taken, and although a model based on exponentially decaying terms is found to be adequate for the two material types studied, a fractional viscoelastic model is found to be far superior for pectin in vitro. Fractional viscoelasticity is the use of fractional differential equations for the modelling of viscoelastic phenomena. In addition to its aforementioned use for pectin, its utility is evidenced here by re-analysis of data gathered from the biomechanical literature. In spite of the apparently simple qualitative behaviours they exhibit, there are a number of unique challenges associated with the selection and fitting of fractional viscoelastic models due to their mathematical complexity. This complexity may, in part, explain why fractional viscoelasticity has seen limited use thus far, even though it captures many of the qualitative behaviours commonly observed in biomaterials. This observation led to the development of an open-source rheology analysis software package, RHEOS, which has many of the common fractional and non-fractional viscoelastic models built-in. The architecture, features and implementation specifics of RHEOS are discussed

Dynamic Deformation and Mechanical Properties of Brain Tissue

Traumatic brain injury is an important medical problem affecting millions of people. Mathematical models of brain biomechanics are being developed to simulate the mechanics of brain injury and to design protective devices. However, because of a lack of quantitative data on brain-skull boundary conditions and deformations, the predictions of mathematical models remain uncertain. The objectives of this dissertation are to develop methods and obtain experimental data that will be used to parameterize and validate models of traumatic brain injury. To that end, this dissertation first addresses the brain-skull boundary conditions by measuring human brain motion using tagged magnetic resonance imaging. Magnetic resonance elastography was performed in the ferret brain to measure its mechanical properties in vivo. Brain tissue is not only heterogeneous, but may also be anisotropic. To characterize tissue anisotropy, an experimental procedure combining both shear testing and indentation was developed and applied to white matter and gray matter. These measurements of brain-skull interactions and mechanical properties of the brain will be valuable in the development and validation of finite element simulations of brain biomechanics

Wave reflection at a free interface in an anisotropic pyroelectric medium with nonclassical thermoelasticity

In this paper, the well-established two-dimensional mathematical model for linear pyroelectric materials is employed to investigate the reflection of waves at the boundary between a vacuum and an elastic, transversely isotropic, pyroelectric material. A comparative study between the solutions of (a) classical thermoelasticity, (b) Cattaneo–Lord–Shulman theory and (c) Green–Lindsay theory equations, characterised by none, one and two relaxation times, respectively, is presented. Suitable boundary conditions are considered in order to determine the reflection coefficients when incident elasto–electro–thermal waves impinge the free interface. It is established that, in the quasi-electrostatic approximation, three different classes of waves: (1) two principally elastic waves, namely a quasi-longitudinal Primary (qP) wave and a quasi-transverse Secondary (qS) wave; and (2) a mainly thermal (qT) wave. The observed electrical effects are, on the other hand, a direct consequence of mechanical and thermal phenomena due to pyroelectric coupling. The computed reflection coefficients of plane qP waves are found to depend upon the angle of incidence, the elastic, electric and thermal parameters of the medium, as well as the thermal relaxation times. The special cases of normal and grazing incidence are also derived and discussed. Finally, the reflection coefficients are computed for cadmium selenide observing the influence of (1) the anisotropy of the material, (2) the electrical potential and (3) temperature variations and (4) the thermal relaxation times on the reflection coefficients

Anisotropic Continuum-Molecular Models: A Unified Framework Based on Pair Potentials for Elasticity, Fracture and Diffusion-Type Problems

This paper presents a unified framework for continuum-molecular modeling of anisotropic elasticity, fracture and diffusion-based problems within a generalized two-dimensional peridynamic theory. A variational procedure is proposed to derive the governing equations of the model, that postulates oriented material points interacting through pair potentials from which pairwise generalized actions are computed as energy conjugates to properly defined pairwise measures of primary field variables. While mass is considered as continuous function of volume, we define constitutive laws for long-range interactions such that the overall anisotropic behavior of the material is the result of the assigned elastic, conductive and failure micro-interaction properties. The non-central force assumption in elasticity, together with the definition of specific orientation-dependent micromoduli functions respecting material symmetries, allow to obtain a fully anisotropic non-local continuum using a purely pairwise description of deformation and constitutive properties. A general and consistent micro-macro moduli correspondence principle is also established, based on the formal analogy with the classic elastic and conductivity tensors. The main concepts presented in this work can be used for further developments of anisotropic continuum-molecular formulations to include other mechanical behaviors and coupled phenomena involving different physics

Realistic tool-tissue interaction models for surgical simulation and planning

Surgical simulators present a safe and potentially effective method for surgical training, and can also be used in pre- and intra-operative surgical planning. Realistic modeling of medical interventions involving tool-tissue interactions has been considered to be a key requirement in the development of high-fidelity simulators and planners. The soft-tissue constitutive laws, organ geometry and boundary conditions imposed by the connective tissues surrounding the organ, and the shape of the surgical tool interacting with the organ are some of the factors that govern the accuracy of medical intervention planning.\ud \ud This thesis is divided into three parts. First, we compare the accuracy of linear and nonlinear constitutive laws for tissue. An important consequence of nonlinear models is the Poynting effect, in which shearing of tissue results in normal force; this effect is not seen in a linear elastic model. The magnitude of the normal force for myocardial tissue is shown to be larger than the human contact force discrimination threshold. Further, in order to investigate and quantify the role of the Poynting effect on material discrimination, we perform a multidimensional scaling study. Second, we consider the effects of organ geometry and boundary constraints in needle path planning. Using medical images and tissue mechanical properties, we develop a model of the prostate and surrounding organs. We show that, for needle procedures such as biopsy or brachytherapy, organ geometry and boundary constraints have more impact on target motion than tissue material parameters. Finally, we investigate the effects surgical tool shape on the accuracy of medical intervention planning. We consider the specific case of robotic needle steering, in which asymmetry of a bevel-tip needle results in the needle naturally bending when it is inserted into soft tissue. We present an analytical and finite element (FE) model for the loads developed at the bevel tip during needle-tissue interaction. The analytical model explains trends observed in the experiments. We incorporated physical parameters (rupture toughness and nonlinear material elasticity) into the FE model that included both contact and cohesive zone models to simulate tissue cleavage. The model shows that the tip forces are sensitive to the rupture toughness. In order to model the mechanics of deflection of the needle, we use an energy-based formulation that incorporates tissue-specific parameters such as rupture toughness, nonlinear material elasticity, and interaction stiffness, and needle geometric and material properties. Simulation results follow similar trends (deflection and radius of curvature) to those observed in macroscopic experimental studies of a robot-driven needle interacting with gels