Journal of Thermal Stresses, 30: 1049–1065, 2007 Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 0149-5739 print/1521-074X online DOI: 10.1080/01495730701572630 ANOMALOUS FEATURES OF THE THERMOMAGNETOELASTIC FIELD IN A VORTEX ARRAY IN A SUPERCONDUCTOR: PROPAGATION OF LOVE’S WAVES B. T. Maruszewski, A. Drzewiecki, and R. Starosta Poznan University of Technology, Institute of Applied Mechanics, Poznan, Poland A magnetic field enters a type-II superconductor along an arrangement of Abrikosov vortices. They interact with each other with the help of the Lorentz force creating a new mechanical field different from that coming from the crystal lattice of a super- conducting material. That new field presents some anomalous properties as compared to the classical ones of the material. This article deals with a modeling and description of a number of those anomalous features of a vortex field in a superconductor. Keywords: Magnetic vortices; Superconductivity; Surface waves; Thermomechanics; Vortex field stress INTRODUCTION The article deals with a new phenomenological aspect of superconductivity, and as such, it develops the mechanics of a vortex lattice as a new state and geometry in a medium. Superconductors belong, generally, to two classes of such materials. A type-I superconductor expels magnetic flux from the material and hence it is in the Meissner state. It is possible only at the applied magnetic field strength less than its determined critical value. In contrast, a type-II superconductor behaves in differently. For applied field strength less than the lower critical field, that superconductor will exhibit the usual Meissner effect. Applied fields greater than the upper critical field strength destroy the superconductivity altogether. In between the lower H c1 and upper H c2 magnetic field strengths the superconductor is in the mixed or “vortex” state (Figure 1) [1–6]. Magnetic flux may penetrate a type-II superconductor in the form of Abrikosov vortices (also called flux lines, flux tubes or fluxons), each carrying a quantum of magnetic flux. These tiny vortices of supercurrent tend to arrange themselves in a triangular or quadratic flux-line lattice, which is more or less Received 10 May 2007; accepted 12 July 2007. The article has been partially supported by the MEiN 1101/T02/2006/30 grant and by the 21-250/2007 DS grant. This article was presented at the 70th Birthday of Józef Ignaczak Symposium at the 7th International Congress on Thermal Stresses, Taipei, June 4–7, 2007. Address correspondence to B. T. Maruszewski, Poznan University of Technology, Institute of Applied Mechanics, ul. Piotrowo 3, Poznan 60-965, Poland. E-mail: bogdan.maruszewski@ put.poznan.pl 1049