Existence of Minimizers for a Variational Problem in Two‐Dimensional Nonlinear Magnetoelasticity

We prove the existence of energy‐minimizing configurations for a two‐dimensional, variational model of magnetoelastic materials capable of large deformations. The model is based on an energy functional which is the sum of the nonlocal self‐energy (the energy stored in the magnetic field generated by the body, and permeating the whole ambient space) and of the local anisotropy energy, which is not weakly lower semicontinuous. A further feature of the model is the presence of a non‐convex constraint on one of the unknowns, the magnetization, which is a unit vector field. (Accepted November 20, 1997)     

A New Approach to Front Propagation Problems: Theory and Applications

In this paper we present a new definition for the global in time propagation (motion) of fronts (hypersurfaces, boundaries) with a prescribed normal velocity, past the first time they develop singularities. We show that if this propagation satisfies a geometric maximum principle (inclusion‐avoidance)‐type property, then the normal velocity must depend only on the position of the front and its normal direction and principal curvatures. This new approach, which is more geometric and, as it turns out, equivalent to the level‐set method, is then used to develop a very general and simple method to rigorously validate the appearance of moving interfaces at the asymptotic limit of general evolving systems like interacting particles and reaction‐diffusion equations. We finally present a number of new asymptotic results. Among them are the asymptotics of (i) reaction‐diffusion equations with rapidly oscillating coefficients, (ii) fully nonlinear nonlocal (integral differential) equations and (iii) stochastic Ising models with long-range anisotropic interactions and general spin flip dynamics. (Accepted July 8, 1996)     

A Variational Approach to Obstacle Problems for Shearable Nonlinearly Elastic Rods

We use variational methods to study obstacle problems for geometrically exact (Cosserat) theories for the planar deformation of nonlinearly elastic rods. These rods can suffer flexure, extension, and shear. There is a marked difference between the behavior of a shearable and an unshearable rod. The set of admissible deformations is not convex, because of the exact geometry used. We first investigate the fundamental question of describing contact forces, which we necessarily treat as vector‐valued Borel measures. Moreover, we introduce techniques for describing point obstacles. Then we prove existence for a very large class of problems. Finally, using nonsmooth analysis for handling the obstacle, we show that the Euler‐Lagrange equations are satisfied almost everywhere. These equations provide very detailed structural information about the contact forces. Accepted June 3, 1996     

Global Equivalence for Deformable Theormoeleastic Bodies

We consider equilibria arising in a model for phase transitions which correspond to stable critical points of the constrained variational problem Here W is a double‐well potential and is a strictly convex domain. For ε small, this is closely related to the problem of partitioning Ω into two subdomains of fixed volume, where the subdomain boundaries correspond to the transitional boundary between phases. Motivated by this geometry problem, we show that in a strictly convex domain, stable critical points of the original variational problem have a connected, thin transition layer separating the two phases. This relates to work in [GM] where special geometries such as cylindrical domains were treated, and is analogous to the results in [CHo] which show that in a convex domain, stable critical points of the corresponding unconstrained problem are constant. The proof of connectivity employs tools from geometric measure theory including the co‐area formula and the isoperimetric inequality on manifolds. The thinness of the transition layer follows from a separate calculation establishing spatial decay of solutions to the pure phases. (Accepted July 15, 1996)     

Young‐Measure Solutions for a Viscoelastically Damped Wave Equation with Nonmonotone Stress‐Strain Relation

We study the viscoelastically damped wave equation with a nonmonotone stress‐strain relation σ. This system describes the dynamics of phase transitions, which is closely related to the creation of microstructures. In order to analyze the dynamic behavior of microstructures we consider highly oscillatory initial states. Two questions are addressed in this work: How do oscillations propagate in space and time? What can be said about the long‐time behavior? An appropriate tool to deal with oscillations are Young measures. They describe the local distribution or one‐point statistics of a sequence of fast fluctuating functions. We demonstrate that highly oscillatory initial states generate in a unique fashion an evolution in the space of Young measures and we derive the determining equations. Further on we prove a generalized dissipation identity for Young‐measure solutions. As a consequence, it is shown that every low‐energy solution converges to a Young‐measure equilibrium as t→∞. This is a generalization of G. Friesecke's & J. B. McLeod's [FM96] convergence result for classical solutions to the case of Young‐measure solutions. (Accepted November 12, 1997)     

Quasi‐One‐Dimensional Riemann Problems and Their Role in Self‐Similar Two‐Dimensional Problems

We study two‐dimensional Riemann problems with piecewise constant data. We identify a class of two‐dimensional systems, including many standard equations of compressible flow, which are simplified by a transformation to similarity variables. For equations in this class, a two‐dimensional Riemann problem with sectorially constant data becomes a boundary‐value problem in the finite plane. For data leading to shock interactions, this problem separates into two parts: a quasi‐one‐dimensional problem in supersonic regions, and an equation of mixed type in subsonic regions. We prove a theorem on local existence of solutions of quasi‐one‐dimensional Riemann problems. For 2 × 2 systems, we generalize a theorem of Courant & Friedrichs, that any hyperbolic state adjacent to a constant state must be a simple wave. In the subsonic regions, where the governing equation is of mixed hyperbolic‐elliptic type, we show that the elliptic part is degenerate at the boundary, with a nonlinear variant of a degeneracy first described by Keldysh. (Accepted December 4, 1997)     

Symmetry Reduced Dynamics of Charged Molecular Strands

The equations of motion are derived for the dynamical folding of charged molecular strands (such as DNA) modeled as flexible continuous filamentary distributions of interacting rigid charge conformations. The new feature is that these equations are nonlocal when the screened Coulomb interactions, or Lennard–Jones potentials between pairs of charges, are included. The nonlocal dynamics is derived in the convective representation of continuum motion by using modified Euler–Poincaré and Hamilton–Pontryagin variational formulations that illuminate the various approaches within the framework of symmetry reduction of Hamilton’s principle for exact geometric rods. In the absence of nonlocal interactions, the equations recover the classical Kirchhoff theory of elastic rods. The motion equations in the convective representation are shown to arise by a classical Lagrangian reduction associated to the symmetry group of the system. This approach uses the process of affine Euler–Poincaré reduction initially developed for complex fluids. On the Hamiltonian side, the Poisson bracket of the molecular strand is obtained by reduction of the canonical symplectic structure on phase space. A change of variables allows a direct passage from this classical point of view to the covariant formulation in terms of Lagrange–Poincaré equations of field theory. In another revealing perspective, the convective representation of the nonlocal equations of molecular strand motion is transformed into quaternionic form.     

Multivalued penalty method for evolution variational inequalities with λ 0-pseudomonotone multivalued maps

We consider evolution variational inequalities with λ ₀-pseudomonotone maps. The main properties of these maps are investigated. By using the finite-difference method, we prove the property of strong solvability for the class of evolution variational inequalities with λ ₀-pseudomonotone maps. Using the penalty method for multivalued maps, we show the existence of weak solutions of evolution variational inequalities on closed convex sets. The class of multivalued penalty operators is constructed. We also consider a model example to illustrate this theory. Published in Neliniini Kolyvannya, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 481–509, October–December, 2007.     

Divergence‐Measure Fields and Hyperbolic Conservation Laws

. We analyze a class of vector fields, called divergence‐measure fields. We establish the Gauss‐Green formula, the normal traces over subsets of Lipschitz boundaries, and the product rule for this class of fields. Then we apply this theory to analyze entropy solutions of initial‐boundary‐value problems for hyperbolic conservation laws and to study the ways in which the solutions assume their initial and boundary data. The examples of conservation laws include multidimensional scalar equations, the system of nonlinear elasticity, and a class of systems with affine characteristic hypersurfaces. The analysis in also extends to . (Accepted July 16, 1998)     

On a Model of Nonlocal Continuum Mechanics Part II: Structure, Asymptotics, and Computations

We consider the asymptotic behavior and local structure of solutions to the nonlocal variational problem developed in the companion article to this work, On a Model of Nonlocal Continuum Mechanics Part I: Existence and Regularity. After a brief review of the basic setup and results of Part I, we conduct a thorough analysis of the phase plane related to an integro-differential Euler--Lagrange equation and classify all admissible structures that arise as energy minimizing strain states. We find that for highly elastic materials with relatively weak particle-particle interactions, the maximum number of internal phase boundaries is two. Moreover, we also develop explicit bounds for the number of internal phase boundaries supported by any material and show that this bound is essentially inversely related to the particle size. To understand the question of asymptotics, we utilize the Young measure and show that in the sense of energetics and averages, minimizers of the full nonlocal problem converge to minimizers of two limiting problems corresponding to both the large and small particle limits. In fact, in the small particle limit, we find that the minimizing fields converge, up to a subsequence in strong-L^p, for 1 ≤ p < ∞, to fields that support either a single internal phase boundary, or two internal phase boundaries that are distributed symmetrically about the body midpoint. We close this work with some computations that illustrate these asymptotic limits and provide insight into the notion of nonlocal metastability. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Some Flows in Shape Optimization

Geometric flows related to shape optimization problems of the Bernoulli type are investigated. The evolution law is the sum of a curvature term and a nonlocal term of Hele–Shaw type. We introduce generalized set solutions, the definition of which is widely inspired by viscosity solutions. The main result is an inclusion preservation principle for generalized solutions. As a consequence, we obtain existence, uniqueness and stability of solutions. Asymptotic behavior for the flow is discussed:we prove that the solutions converge to a generalized Bernoulli exterior free-boundary problem.     

Variational principle of thermoelectroelasticity and its application to the problem of vibrations of a thin‐wall member

The dynamic behavior of thinwall members manufactured from materials with the pyroelectric effect was studied. A variational formulation of the problem is used, and a variational principle is formulated that differs from the wellknown one. Correct boundaryvalue problems describing the tension, compression, and bending of a thinwall pyroelectric member are constructed using the variational principle and a number of hypotheses on the distribution of the components of physical fields along the width of the member.     

Viscosity Solutions of a Degenerate Parabolic-Elliptic System Arising in the Mean-Field Theory of Superconductivity

In a Type‐II superconductor the magnetic field penetrates the superconducting body through the formation of vortices. In an extreme Type‐II superconductor these vortices reduce to line singularities. Because the number of vortices is large it seems feasible to model their evolution by an averaged problem, known as the mean-field model of superconductivity. We assume that the evolution law of an individual vortex, which underlies the averaging process, involves the current of the generated magnetic field as well as the curvature vector. In the present paper we study a two‐dimensional reduction, assuming all vortices to be perpendicular to a given direction. Since both the magnetic field H and the averaged vorticity ω are curl‐free, we may represent them via a scalar magnetic potential q and a scalar stream function ψ, respectively. We study existence, uniqueness and asymptotic behaviour of solutions (ψ, q) of the resulting degenerate elliptic‐parabolic system (with curvature taken into account or not) by means of viscosity and weak solutions. In addition we relate (ψ, q) to solutions (ω, H) of the mean‐field equations without curvature. Finally we construct special solutions of the corresponding stationary equations with two or more superconducting phases. (Accepted August 8, 1997)     

Nonlocal and gradient rate plasticity

This paper deals with a formulation of nonlocal and gradient plasticity with internal variables. The constitutive model complies with local internal variables which govern kinematic hardening and isotropic softening and with a nonlocal corrective internal variable defined either as the sum between a new internal variable and its spatial weighted average or as the gradient of a measure of plastic strain. The rate constitutive problem is cast in the framework provided by the convex analysis and the potential theory for monotone multivalued operators which provide the suitable tools to perform a theoretical analysis of such nonlocal and gradient problems. The validity of the maximum dissipation theorem is assessed and constitutive variational formulations of the rate model are provided. The structural rate problem for an assigned load rate is then formulated. The related variational formulation in the complete set of state variable is contributed and the methodology to derive variational formulations, with different combinations of the state variables, is explicitly provided. In particular the generalization to the present nonlocal and gradient model of the principles of Prager–Hodge, Greenberg and Capurso–Maier is presented. Finally nonlocal variational formulations provided in the literature are derived as special cases of the proposed model.     

Elastic Energy Minimization and the Recoverable Strains of Polycrystalline Shape‐Memory Materials

Shape‐memory behavior is the ability of certain materials to recover, on heating, apparently plastic deformation sustained below a critical temperature. Some materials have good shape‐memory behavior as single crystals but little or none as polycrystals, while others have good shape‐memory behavior even as polycrystals. We propose a method for explaining the difference. Our approach is based on elastic energy minimization. It leads to a special class of nonlinear homogenization problems, involving integrands that are degenerate near the origin. We explore the behavior of these problems through various examples and bounds. The elementary “Taylor bound” and the newer “translation method” are central to our analysis. Accepted October 26, 1995     

Null‐Controllability of a System of Linear Thermoelasticity

We consider a linear system of thermoelasticity in a compact, C ^infin, n-dimensional connected Riemannian manifold. This system consists of a wave equation coupled to a heat equation. When the boundary of the manifold is non‐empty, Dirichlet boundary conditions are considered. We study the controllability properties of this system when the control acts in the hyperbolic equation (and not in the parabolic one) and has its support restricted to an open subset of the manifold. We show that, if the control time and the support of the control satisfy the geometric control condition for the wave equation, this system of thermoelasticity is null-controllable. More precisely, any finite‐energy solution can be driven to zero at the control time. An analogous result is proved when the control acts on the parabolic equation. Finally, when the manifold has no boundary, the null‐controllability of the linear system of three‐dimensional thermoelastic ity is proved. (Accepted June 13, 1996)     

A nonlocal model with strain-based damage

A thermodynamically consistent formulation of nonlocal damage in the framework of the internal variable theories of inelastic behaviours of associative type is presented. The damage behaviour is defined in the strain space and the effective stress turns out to be additively splitted in the actual stress and in the nonlocal counterpart of the relaxation stress related to damage phenomena. An important advantage of models with strain-based loading functions and explicit damage evolution laws is that the stress corresponding to a given strain can be evaluated directly without any need for solving a nonlinear system of equations. A mixed nonlocal variational formulation in the complete set of state variables is presented and is specialized to a mixed two-field variational formulation. Hence a finite element procedure for the analysis of the elastic model with nonlocal damage is established on the basis of the proposed two-field variational formulation. Two examples concerning a one-dimensional bar in simple tension and a two-dimensional notched plate are addressed. No mesh dependence or boundary effects are apparent.     

A micromechanics-based nonlocal constitutive equation incorporating three-point statistics for random linear elastic composite materials

A variational formulation employing the minimum potential and complementary energy principles is used to derive a micromechanics-based nonlocal constitutive equation for random linear elastic composite materials, relating ensemble averages of stress and strain in the most general situation when mean fields vary spatially. All information contained in the energy principles is retained; we employ stress polarization trial fields utilizing one-point statistics so that the resulting nonlocal constitutive equation incorporates up through three-point statistics. The variational structure is developed first for arbitrary heterogeneous linear elastic materials, then for randomly inhomogeneous materials, then for general n-phase composite materials, and finally for two-phase composite materials, in which case explicit variational upper and lower bounds on the nonlocal effective modulus tensor operator are derived. For statistically uniform infinite-body composites, these bounds are determined even more explicitly in Fourier transform space. We evaluate these in detail in an example case: longitudinal shear of an aligned fiber or void composite. We determine the full permissible ranges of the terms involving two- and three-point statistics in these bounds, and thereby exhibit explicit results that encompass arbitrary isotropic in-plane phase distributions; we also develop a nonlocal “Milton parameter”, the variation of whose eigenvalues throughout the interval [0, 1] describes the full permissible range of the three-point term. Example plots of the new bounds show them to provide substantial improvement over the (two-point) Hashin–Shtrikman bounds on the nonlocal operator tensor, for all permissible values of the two- and three-point parameters. We next discuss further applications of the general nonlocal operator bounds: to any three-dimensional scalar transport problem e.g. conductivity, for which explicit results are given encompassing the full permissible ranges of the two- and three-point statistics terms for arbitrary three-dimensional isotropic phase distributions; and to general three-dimensional composites, where explicit results require future research. Finally, we show how the work just summarized, treating elastostatics, can be generalized to elastodynamics, first in general, then explicitly for the longitudinal shear example.     

Metal-forming problems with combined hardening

A class of quasi-steady metal-forming problems under nonlocal contactand Coulomb’s friction boundary conditions is considered with an incompressible,rigid-plastic,strain-rate dependent,isotropic,and kinematic hardening material model.Acoupled variational formulation is derived,the convergence of a variable stiffness parame-ter method with time retardation is proved,and the existence and uniqueness results areobtained.