Strain localization in an oscillating Maxwell viscoelastic cylinder

The transient rotation responses of simple, axisymmetric, viscoelastic structures are of interest for interpretation of experiments designed to characterize materials and closed structures such as the brain using magnetic resonance techniques. Here, we studied the response of a Maxwell viscoelastic cylinder to small, sinusoidal displacement of its outer boundary. The transient strain field can be calculated in closed form using any of several conventional approaches. The solution is surprising: the strain field develops a singularity that appears when the wavefront leaves the center of the cylinder, and persists as the wavefront reflects to the outer boundary and back to the center of the cylinder. The singularity is alternately annihilated and re-initiated upon subsequent departures of the wavefront from the center of the cylinder until it disappears in the limit of steady state oscillations. We present the solution for this strain field, characterize the nature of this singularity, and discuss its potential role in the mechanical response and evolved morphology of the brain.