The validity of the long-wave approximation for solitary waves in fluid-filled elastic tubes

Studies of solitary waves commonly apply the long-wave approximation, which unnecessarily rigidifies the behavior of the tube, but permits the problem to be solved using certain approximate numerical techniques. In this study, an approach was developed where approximating the contribution of the axial strain as a linear function of the radial strain reduced the system of exact governing differential equations to a single equation of a single dependent variable. The approximated solution was found to agree with the exact solution to within 3%. This approach would be useful for considering more complex problems where the exact solution technique may not be reasonably applied.