Finite-amplitude standing acoustic waves in a cubically nonlinear medium

The acoustic field in a resonator filled with a cubically nonlinear medium is investigated. The field is represented as a linear superposition of two strongly distorted counterpropagating waves. Unlike the case of a quadratically nonlinear medium, the counterpropagating waves in a cubically nonlinear medium are coupled through their mean (over a period) intensities. Free and forced standing waves are considered. Profiles of discontinuous oscillations containing compression and expansion shock fronts are constructed. Resonance curves, which represent the dependences of the mean field intensity on the difference between the boundary oscillation frequency and the frequency of one of the resonator modes, are calculated. The structure of the profiles of strongly distorted “forced” waves is analyzed. It is shown that discontinuities are formed only when the difference between the mean intensity and the detuning takes certain negative values. The discontinuities correspond to the jumps between different solutions to a nonlinear integro-differential equation, which, in the case of small dissipation, degenerates into a third-degree algebraic equation with an undetermined coefficient. The dependence of the intensity of discontinuous standing waves on the frequency of oscillations of the resonator boundary is determined. A nonlinear saturation is revealed: at a very large amplitude of the resonator wall oscillations, the field intensity in the resonator ceases depending on the amplitude and cannot exceed a certain limiting value, which is determined by the nonlinear attenuation at the shock fronts. This intensity maximum is reached when the frequency smoothly increases above the linear resonance. A hysteresis arises, and a bistability takes place, as in the case of a concentrated system at a nonlinear resonance.