A model-based simulation framework for coupled acoustics, elastodynamics, and damage with application to nano-pulse lithotripsy

We develop a model for solid objects surrounded by a fluid that accounts for the possibility of acoustic pressures giving rise to damage on the surface of the solid. The propagation of an acoustic pressure in the fluid domain is modeled by the acoustic wave equation. On the other hand, the response of the solid is described by linear elastodynamics coupled with a gradient damage model, one that is based on a cohesive-type phase-field description of fracture. The interaction between the acoustic pressure and the deformation and damage of the solid are represented by transmission conditions at the fluid–solid interface. The resulting governing equations are discretized using a finite-element/finite-difference method that pays particular attention to the spatial and temporal scales that need to be resolved. Results from model-based simulations are provided for a benchmark problem as well as for recent experiments in nano-pulse lithotripsy. A parametric study is performed to illustrate how damage develops in response to the driving force (magnitude and location of the acoustic source) as a function of the fracture resistance of the solid. The results are shown to be qualitatively consistent with experimental observations for the location and size of the damage fields on the solid surface. A study of limiting cases also suggests that both the threshold for damage and the critical fracture energy are important to consider in order to capture the transition from damage initiation to complete localization. A low-cycle fatigue model is proposed that degrades the fracture resistance of the solid as a function of accumulated tensile strain energy, and it is shown to be capable of capturing damage localization in simulations of multi-pulse nano-pulse lithotripsy.