A dynamic viscoelastic analogy for fluid-filled elastic tubes

In this paper we evaluate the dynamic effects of the fluid viscosity for fluid filled elastic tubes in the framework of a linear uni-axial theory. Because of the linear approximation, the effects on the fluid inside the elastic tube are taken into account according to the Womersley theory for a pulsatile flow in a rigid tube. The evolution equations for the response variables are derived by means of the Laplace transform technique and they all turn out to be the very same integro-differential equation of the convolution type. This equation has the same structure as the one describing uni-axial waves in linear viscoelastic solids characterized by a relaxation modulus or by a creep compliance. In our case, the analogy is connected with a peculiar viscoelastic solid which exhibits creep properties similar to those of a fractional Maxwell model (of order 1 / 2) for short times, and of a standard Maxwell model for long times. The present analysis could find applications in biophysics concerning the propagation of pressure waves within large arteries.