Nonlinear elastic longitudinal strain-wave propagation in a plate with nonequilibrium laser-generated point defects

The propagation of longitudinal strain wave in a plate with quadratic nonlinearity of elastic continuum was studied in the context of a model that takes into account the joint dynamics of elastic displacements in the medium and the concentration of the nonequilibrium laser-induced point defects. The input equations of the problem are reformulated in terms of only the total displacements of the medium points. In this case, the presence of structural defects manifests itself in the emergence of a delayed response of the system to the propagation of the strain-related perturbations, which is characteristic of media with relaxation or memory. The model equations describing the nonlinear displacement wave were derived with allowance made for the values of the relaxation parameter. The influence of the generation and relaxation of lattice defects on the propagation of this wave was analyzed. It is shown that, for short relaxation times of defects, the strain can propagate in the form of shock fronts. In the case of longer relaxation times, shock waves do not form and the strain wave propagates only in the form of solitary waves or a train of solitons. The contributions of the finiteness of the defect-recombination rate to linear and nonlinear elastic modulus, and spatial dispersion are determined.