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Wave propagation in a model artery
[Propagation d’ondes dans un modèle d’artère]
Pierre Chantelot1 orcid  ; Alexandre Delory2 orcid ; Claire Prada1 orcid ; Fabrice Lemoult1 orcid 
1Institut Langevin, ESPCI Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, 75005 Paris, France
2ENS de Lyon, CNRS, LPENSL, UMR 5672, Lyon cedex 07, France
Comptes Rendus. Mécanique, Volume 354 (2026), pp. 313-332

Fluid filled pipes are ubiquitous in both man-made constructions and living organisms. In the latter, biological pipes, such as arteries, have unique properties as their walls are made of soft, incompressible, highly deformable materials. In this article, we experimentally investigate wave propagation in a model artery: an elastomer strip coupled to a rigid water channel. We measure out-of-plane waves using synthetic Schlieren imaging, and evidence a single dispersive mode which resembles the pulse wave excited by the heartbeat. By imposing a hydrostatic pressure difference, we reveal the strong influence of pre-stress on the dispersion of this wave. Using a model based on the acoustoelastic theory accounting for the material rheology and for the large static deformation of the strip, we demonstrate that the imposed pressure affects wave propagation through an interplay between stretching, orthogonal to the propagation direction, and curvature-induced rigidity. We finally highlight the relevance of our results in the biological setting, by discussing the determination of the arterial wall’s material properties from pulse wave velocity measurements in the presence of pre-stress.

Les systèmes de transport de fluides sont omniprésents aussi bien dans les constructions humaines que dans les organismes vivants. Dans ces derniers, les conduits biologiques, tels que les artères, possèdent des propriétés uniques, leurs parois étant constituées de matériaux mous, incompressibles et hautement déformables. Dans cet article, nous étudions expérimentalement la propagation d’ondes dans un modèle d’artère : un ruban d’élastomère couplé à un canal rigide. Nous mesurons les ondes hors plan par imagerie Schlieren synthétique, et mettons en évidence un unique mode dispersif, semblable à l’onde de pouls générée par les battements du cœur. En imposant une différence de pression hydrostatique, nous révélons la forte influence de la précontrainte sur la dispersion de cette onde. À l’aide d’un modèle fondé sur la théorie acoustoélastique, prenant en compte la rhéologie du matériau et la grande déformation statique du ruban, nous démontrons que la pression imposée altère la propagation des ondes par une interaction entre l’étirement, perpendiculaire à la direction de propagation, et la rigidité induite par la courbure. Nous soulignons enfin la pertinence de nos résultats dans le contexte biologique, en discutant de la détermination des propriétés mécaniques de la paroi artérielle à partir de la mesure de la vitesse de l’onde de pouls en présence de précontrainte.

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DOI : 10.5802/crmeca.356
Keywords: soft matter, hyperelasticity, viscoelasticity, pulse wave
Mots-clés : matière molle, hyperélasticité, viscoélasticité, onde de pouls

Pierre Chantelot  1   ; Alexandre Delory  2   ; Claire Prada  1   ; Fabrice Lemoult  1

1 Institut Langevin, ESPCI Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, 75005 Paris, France
2 ENS de Lyon, CNRS, LPENSL, UMR 5672, Lyon cedex 07, France
Licence : CC-BY 4.0
Droits d'auteur : Les auteurs conservent leurs droits
Pierre Chantelot; Alexandre Delory; Claire Prada; Fabrice Lemoult. Wave propagation in a model artery. Comptes Rendus. Mécanique, Volume 354 (2026), pp. 313-332. doi: 10.5802/crmeca.356
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