Timoshenko-String Hybrid Model Explains Frequency-Dependent Wave Speeds in Tensioned Soft Cylinders
Pre-stretched soft beams exhibit wave propagation governed by competing tension and bending effects, validated via optical elastography and Timoshenko-string inversion. The coupled model resolves prior mismatches between measured dispersion and classical theories. Practical consequences appear in soft robotics design and tissue characterization within 18-24 months.
Within two years, integration of the hybrid dispersion relation into finite-element design tools for soft robotics and wearable devices is expected to reduce wave-speed prediction errors below 8 percent. Follow-up experiments should test compressible and anisotropic beams to establish the model's limits before widespread adoption in structural health monitoring of polymer-based infrastructure.
Sources (3)
- [1]Primary Source(https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.05414)
- [2]Supporting Source(https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmps.2023.105432)
- [3]Supporting Source(https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abq1234)