Nonlinear surface waves in soft, weakly compressible elastic media

Nonlinear surface waves in soft, weakly compressible elastic media are investigated theoretically, with a focus on propagation in tissue-like media. The model is obtained as a limiting case of the theory developed by Zabolotskaya J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 91, 2569-2575 (1992)] for nonlinear surface waves in arbitrary isotropic elastic media, and it is consistent with the results obtained by Fu and Devenish Q. J. Mech. Appl. Math. 49, 65-80 (1996)] for incompressible isotropic elastic media. In particular, the quadratic nonlinearity is found to be independent of the third-order elastic constants of the medium, and it is inversely proportional to the shear modulus. The Gol'dberg number characterizing the degree of waveform distortion due to quadratic nonlinearity is proportional to the square root of the shear modulus and inversely proportional to the shear viscosity. Simulations are presented for propagation in tissue-like media.