Viscoelastic micropolar continuum and viscoelastic waves

Generalized Kelvin model is applied to isotropic viscoelastic micropolar continuum. Constitutive equations in integral and differential form, generalized Lamé equations, and wave equations for displacement and microrotation are derived for this model. For damped viscoelastic waves, which are realized in the continuum under examination, the wave vectors and vectors of decay are explicitly given as functions of elastic moduli, viscosity coefficients, angular frequency, density, and microinertia coefficient. Analogous relations are derived for further eleven simpler mass models. Results are compared for three models in current use. For two of them (classical elastic and micropolar elastic medium) are the derived results in agreement with the ones usually used, for the third model (viscoelastic continuum) are the usual formulas a limiting case of the relations derived in this paper.