To produce sounds, we adjust the tension of our vocal folds to shape their properties and control the pitch. This efficient mechanism offers inspiration for designing reconfigurable materials and adaptable soft robots. However, understanding how flexible structures respond to a significant static strain is not straightforward. This complexity also limits the precision of medical imaging when applied to tensioned organs like muscles, tendons, ligaments and blood vessels among others. In this article, we experimentally and theoretically explore the dynamics of a soft strip subject to a substantial static extension, up to 180%. Our observations reveal a few intriguing effects, such as the resilience of certain vibrational modes to a static deformation. These observations are supported by a model based on the incremental displacement theory. This has promising practical implications for characterizing soft materials but also for scenarios where external actions can be used to tune properties.

Elastic waves in anisotropic media can exhibit a power flux that is not collinear with the wave vector. This has notable consequences for waves guided in a plate. Through laser-ultrasonic experiments, we evidence remarkable phenomena due to slow waves in a single-crystal silicon wafer. Waves exhibiting power flux orthogonal to their wave vector are identified. A pulsed line source that excites these waves reveals a wave packet radiated parallel to the line. Furthermore, there exist precisely eight plane waves with zero power flux. These so-called zero–group-velocity modes are oriented along the crystal’s principal axes. Time acts as a filter in the wave-vector domain that selects these modes. Thus, a point source leads to beating resonance patterns with moving nodal curves on the surface of the infinite plate. We observe this pattern as it emerges naturally after a pulsed excitation.

The dispersion curves of (elastic) waveguides frequently exhibit crossings and osculations (also known as veering, repulsion, or avoided crossing). Osculations are regions in the dispersion diagram where curves approach each other arbitrarily closely without ever crossing before veering apart. In semi-analytical (undamped) waveguide models, dispersion curves are obtained as solutions to discretized parameterized Hermitian eigenvalue problems. In the mathematical literature, it is known that such eigencurves can exhibit crossing points only if the corresponding matrix flow (parameter-dependent matrix) is uniformly decomposable. We discuss the implications for the solution of the waveguide problem. In particular, we make use of a simple algorithm recently suggested in the literature for decomposing matrix flows. We also employ a method for mode tracing based on approximating the eigenvalue problem for individual modes by an ordinary differential equation that can be solved by standard procedures.

Dispersion curves of elastic waveguides exhibit points where the group velocity vanishes while the wavenumber remains finite. These are the so-called zero-group-velocity (ZGV) points. As the elastodynamic energy at these points remains confined close to the source, they are of practical interest for nondestructive testing and quantitative characterization of structures. These applications rely on the correct prediction of the ZGV points. In this contribution, we first model the ZGV resonances in anisotropic plates based on the appearance of an additional modal solution. The resulting governing equation is interpreted as a two-parameter eigenvalue problem. Subsequently, we present three complementary numerical procedures capable of computing ZGV points in arbitrary nondissipative elastic waveguides in the conventional sense that their axial power flux vanishes. The first method is globally convergent and guarantees to find all ZGV points but can only be used for small problems. The second procedure is a very fast, generally-applicable, Newton-type iteration that is locally convergent and requires initial guesses. The third method combines both kinds of approaches and yields a procedure that is applicable to large problems, does not require initial guesses and is likely to find all ZGV points. The algorithms are implemented in GEW ZGV computation (doi: 10.5281/zenodo.7537442).

Transit-time flow meters need to compensate for cross-sensitivity to temperature. We show that Lamb wave-based setups are less affected by temperature. An optimality criterion is derived that allows to tune the meter into a zero local sensitivity to temperature. For this end, the flow-induced change in ultrasonic transit time is revisited first. While wetted piston transducer meters are directly sensitive to the change in propagation speed, the change in time of flight of Lamb wave-based systems is due to the beam displacement. Second, the effect of temperature is incorporated analytically. It is found that the temperature-dependent radiation angle of Lamb waves is able to compensate for changes in the speed of sound, leading to an (almost) unaffected overall time of flight. This effect is achievable with any fluid and in a wide temperature range. As an example, we discuss a water meter in the range from 0°C to 100°C. The model is validated against temperature and flow rate-dependent measurements obtained on a prototype. The measured data fits well to the developed model and confirms the reduced cross-sensitivity to temperature. Although an in-line meter is considered here, the results extend to clamp-on devices.

FAU Forschungen Reihe B: Medizin, Naturwissenschaft, Technik, Band 42