Dynamic responses of porous viscoelastic tissues using the eigenvalues approach

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to investigate coupled thermo–mechanical interaction in porous viscoelastic tissues to improve understanding of heat-transfer dynamics and their biomechanical consequences during thermal therapies. A biothermoelastic model is proposed that incorporates a non-Fourier heat-conduction law with a single thermal relaxation time to represent viscoelastic tissues with voids. Design/methodology/approach Closed-form solutions for temperature, displacement, void volume fraction and stress fields are obtained using an eigenvalue approach in the Laplace domain, and numerical simulation is performed to quantify the influences of thermal relaxation time and the characteristic time of a pulsed heat flux. Findings Thermal relaxation produces pronounced changes in the transient bioheat response and its coupled mechanical fields, leading to clear deviations from classical Fourier predictions, particularly under short-time and pulsed-heating conditions. Originality/value This study offers a unified analytical–computational framework that links non-Fourier heat transport to porous viscoelastic tissue, provides closed-form field solutions and clarifies how relaxation and pulse duration govern predictions of thermal therapy.