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Large acoustoelastic effect

Classical acoustoelasticity couples small-amplitude elastic wave propagation to an infinitesimal pre-deformation, in order to reveal and evaluate non-destructively third-order elasticity constants. Here, we see that acoustoelasticity can be also be used to determine fourth-order constants, simply by coupling a small-amplitude wave with a small-but-finite pre-deformation. We present results for compressible weakly nonlinear elasticity, we make a link with the historical results of Bridgman on the physics of high pressures, and we show how to determine "D", the so-called fourth-order elasticity constant of soft (incompressible, isotropic) solids by using infinitesimal waves.