PLANE STATIONARY WAVES IN A DAMAGED MEDIUM WITH MICROSTRUCTURE

The propagation of longitudinal and shear waves in a damaged medium wi th microstructure is investigated. In order to describe the behavior o f an elastic medium with microfractures, the internal energy is specif ied in the form of a Myasnikov-Lyakhovskii potential. The presence of microstructure is taken into account with the aid of the Leroux hypoth eses. The resulting mathematical model is strongly nonlinear and can d escribe stationary waves. Dependencies relating the primary wave param eters to the extent of material fracturing are determined. It is shown that these dependencies may be used as a basis for developing an acou stic technique to test the fracturing of materials.