Homogenization of Polycrystalline¶Aggregates

The effective elastic properties of a polycrystalline material depend on the single crystal elastic constants of the crystallites comprising the polycrystal and on the manner in which the crystallites are arranged. In this paper we apply the techniques of homogenization to put the problem of determining effective elastic constants in a precise mathematical framework that permits us to derive an expression for the effective elasticity tensor. We also study how the homogenized elasticity tensor changes as the probability characterizing the ensemble changes. Under the assumption that the field of orientations of the crystallographic axes of the crystallites is an independent random field, we show that our theory is compatible with the formulation used in texture analysis. In particular, we are able to prove that the physical assumption made by [10] in his study of weakly-textured polycrystals holds true. In addition, we establish some elementary bounds on the material constants that characterize the effective elasticity tensor of weakly-textured orthorhombic aggregates of cubic crystallites. Accepted: (June 15, 1999)     

Network Approximation in the Limit of¶Small Interparticle Distance of the¶Effective Properties of a High-Contrast¶Random Dispersed Composite

We consider a high-contrast two-phase composite such as a ceramic/polymer composite or a fiberglass composite. Our objective is to determine the dependence of the effective conductivity (or the effective dielectric constant or the effective shear modulus) of the composite on the random locations of the inclusions (ceramic particles or fibers) when the concentration of the inclusions is high. We consider a two-dimensional model and show that the continuum problem can be approximated by a discrete random network (graph). We use variational techniques to provide rigorous mathematical justification for this approximation. In particular, we have shown asymptotic equivalence of the effective constant for the discrete and continuum models in the limit when the relative interparticle distance goes to zero. We introduce the geometrical interparticle distance parameter using Voronoi tessellation, and emphasize the relevance of this parameter due to the fact that for irregular (non-periodic) geometries it is not uniquely determined by the volume fraction of the inclusions. We use the discrete network to compute numerically. For this purpose we employ a computer program which generates a random distribution of disks on the plane. Using this distribution we obtain the corresponding discrete network. Furthermore, the computer program provides the distribution of fluxes in the network which is based on Keller's formula for two closely spaced disks. We compute the dependence of on the volume fraction of the inclusions V for monodispersed composites and obtaine results which are consistent with the percolation theory predictions. For polydispersed composites (random inclusions of two different sizes) the dependence is not simple and is determined by the relative volume fraction V _r of large and small particles. We found some special values of V _r for which the effective coefficient is significantly decreased. The computer program which is based on our network model is very efficient and it allows us to collect the statistical data for a large number of random configurations.     

Existence and Uniqueness of Solutions¶of an Asymptotic Equation¶Arising from a Variational Wave Equation¶with General Data

We establish here the global existence and uniqueness of admissible (both dissipative and conservative) weak solutions to a canonical asymptotic equation () for weakly nonlinear solutions of a class of nonlinear variational wave equations with any L ²(ℝ) initial datum. We use the method of Young measures and mollification techniques. Accepted April 25, 2000?Published online November 16, 2000     

Maps of Convex Sets and Invariant Regions¶for Finite-Difference Systems¶of Conservation Laws

General results about maps of convex sets in ? ⁿ are proved. We outline their extensions to an infinite-dimensional context. Such extensions have applications in nonlinear analysis such as in the study of the invariance of convex sets under nonlinear maps. Here, we explore applications only in the finite-dimensional context. More specifically, we apply the general results to the problem of finding sufficient conditions for a region of the state space to be globally or locally invariant under finite-difference schemes applied to systems of conservation laws in several space variables. In particular, we establish a final characterization of the invariant regions under the Lax-Friedrichs scheme and also give sufficient conditions for the local invariance. Further, we give sufficient conditions for the global and local invariance of regions under flux-splitting finite-difference schemes. An example of the multi-dimensional Euler equations for non-isentropic gas dynamics is discussed.     

Existence of a Global Smooth Solution¶for a Degenerate Goursat Problem¶of Gas Dynamics

The Goursat problem of a mixed type equation , P≥ 0, is considered. At the ends of its supports we have P=0, which means it is degenerate hyperbolic. We prove the global existence of a smooth solution to the degenerate Goursat problem up to a boundary where P=0. This problem comes from the expansion of a wedge of gas with constant velocity into vacuum, in two-dimensional pressure-gradient equations in gas dynamics, where P is the pressure and P=0 means vacuum. Accepted June 16, 2000?Published online December 6, 2000     

A Variational Formulation of¶Rate-Independent Phase Transformations¶Using an Extremum Principle

We propose a rate-independent, mesoscopic model for the hysteretic evolution of phase transformations in shape-memory alloys. The model uses the deformation and phase-indicator function as basic unknowns and the potentials for the elastic energy and for the dissipation as constitutive laws. Using the associated functionals, admissible processes are defined to be the ones which are stable at all times and which satisfy the energy inequality.This concept leads to a natural time-incremental method which consists in a minimization problem. The mesoscopic model is obtained by a relaxation procedure. It leads to new functionals involving the cross-quasiconvexification of the elastic stored-energy density. For a special case involving two phases of linearized elastic materials we show that the incremental problem provides existence of admissible processes for the time-continuous problem, if we let the time-step go to 0. Dedicated to Erwin Stein on the occasion of his seventiethbirthday     

Isentropic Approximation¶of the Compressible Euler System¶in One Space Dimension

Using the stability results of Bressan & Colombo [BC] for strictly hyperbolic 2 × 2 systems in one space dimension, we prove that the solutions of isentropic and non-isentropic Euler equations in one space dimension with the respective initial data (ρ₀, u ₀) and (ρ₀, u ₀, &\theta;₀=ρ₀ ^{γ− 1}) remain close as soon as the total variation of (ρ₀, u ₀) is sufficiently small. Accepted April 25, 2000?Published online November 24, 2000     

On the Influence of the Kinetic Energy¶on the Stability of Equilibria¶of Natural Lagrangian Systems

Natural Lagrangian systems (T,Π) on R ² described by the equation are considered, where is a positive definite quadratic form in and Π(q) has a critical point at 0. It is constructively proved that there exist a C ^∞ potential energy Π and two C ^∞ kinetic energies T and such that the equilibrium q(t)≡ 0 is stable for the system (T,Π) and unstable for the system . Equivalently, it is established that for C ^∞ natural systems the kinetic energy can influence the stability. In the analytic category this is not true. Accepted: October 20, 1999     

Macroscopic Response of¶Nematic Elastomers via Relaxation of¶a Class of SO(3)-Invariant Energies

We obtain an explicit formula for the relaxation of the free-energy density for nematic elastomers proposed by Bladon, Terentjev&;Warner (Phys. Rev. E 47 (1993), 3838–3840). The proof is based on a characterization of the level sets of the relaxed energy. In particular, the construction uses only laminates within laminates and it identifies those deformations that correspond to simple laminates.     

Decay of Almost Periodic Solutions¶of Conservation Laws

We consider the asymptotic behavior of solutions of systems of inviscid or viscous conservation laws in one or several space variables, which are almost periodic in the space variables in a generalized sense introduced by Stepanoff and Wiener, which extends the original one of H. Bohr. We prove that if u(x,t) is such a solution whose inclusion intervals at time t, with respect to ?>0, satisfy l _epsiv;(t)/t→0 as t→∞, and such that the scaling sequence u ^T (x,t)=u(T x,T t) is pre-compact as t→∞ in L _loc ¹(? ^{d +1} ₊, then u(x,t) decays to its mean value \(\), which is independent of t, as t→∞. The decay considered here is in L ¹ _loc of the variable ξ≡x/t, which implies, as we show, that \(\) as t→∞, where M _x denotes taking the mean value with respect to x. In many cases we show that, if the initial data are almost periodic in the generalized sense, then so also are the solutions. We also show, in these cases, how to reduce the condition on the growth of the inclusion intervals l _?(t) with t, as t→∞, for fixed ? > 0, to a condition on the growth of l _?(0) with ?, as ?→ 0, which amounts to imposing restrictions only on the initial data. We show with a simple example the existence of almost periodic (non-periodic) functions whose inclusion intervals satisfy any prescribed growth condition as ?→ 0. The applications given here include inviscid and viscous scalar conservation laws in several space variables, some inviscid systems in chromatography and isentropic gas dynamics, as well as many viscous 2 × 2 systems such as those of nonlinear elasticity and Eulerian isentropic gas dynamics, with artificial viscosity, among others. In the case of the inviscid scalar equations and chromatography systems, the class of initial data for which decay results are proved includes, in particular, the L ^∞ generalized limit periodic functions. Our procedures can be easily adapted to provide similar results for semilinear and kinetic relaxations of systems of conservation laws.     

Initial Layers and Uniqueness of¶Weak Entropy Solutions to¶Hyperbolic Conservation Laws

We consider initial layers and uniqueness of weak entropy solutions to hyperbolic conservation laws through the scalar case. The entropy solutions we address assume their initial data only in the sense of weak-star in L ^∞ as t→0₊ and satisfy the entropy inequality in the sense of distributions for t>0. We prove that, if the flux function has weakly genuine nonlinearity, then the entropy solutions are always unique and the initial layers do not appear. We also discuss applications to the zero relaxation limit for hyperbolic systems of conservation laws with relaxation. Accepted: October 26, 1999     

Variational Problems¶on Multiply Connected Thin Strips I:¶Basic Estimates and Convergence¶of the Laplacian Spectrum

Let M be a planar embedded graph whose arcs meet transversally at the vertices. Let ?(?) be a strip-shaped domain around M, of width ? except in a neighborhood of the singular points. Assume that the boundary of ?(?) is smooth. We define comparison operators between functions on ?(?) and on M, and we derive energy estimates for the compared functions. We define a Laplace operator on M which is in a certain sense the limit of the Laplace operator on ?(?) with Neumann boundary conditions. In particular, we show that the p-th eigenvalue of the Laplacian on ?(?) converges to the p-th eigenvalue of the Laplacian on M as ? tends to 0. A similar result holds for the magnetic Schrödinger operator.     

Theory of Extended Solutions¶for Fast-Diffusion Equations¶in Optimal Classes of Data.¶Radiation from Singularities

This paper is devoted to constructing a general theory of nonnegative solutions for the equation called “the fast-diffusion equation” in the literature. We consider the Cauchy problem taking initial data in the set ?⁺ of all nonnegative Borel measures, which forces us to work with singular solutions which are not locally bounded, not even locally integrable. A satisfactory theory can be formulated in this generality in the range 1 > m > m _c = max {(N? 2)/N,0}, in which the limits of classical solutions are also continuous in ? ^N as extended functions with values in ?₊∪{∞}. We introduce a precise class of extended continuous solutions ? _c and prove (i) that the initial-value problem is well posed in this class, (ii) that every solution u(x,t) in ? _c has an initial trace in ?⁺, and (iii) that the solutions in ? _c are limits of classical solutions. Our results settle the well-posedness of two other related problems. On the one hand, they solve the initial-and-boundary-value problem in ?× (0,∞) in the class of large solutions which take the value u=∞ on the lateral boundary x∈??, t>0. Well-posedness is established for this problem for m _c < m > 1 when ? is any open subset of ? ^N and the restriction of the initial data to ? is any locally finite nonnegative measure in ?. On the other hand, by using the special solutions which have the separate-variables form, our results apply to the elliptic problem Δf=f ^q posed in any open set ?. For 1 > q > N/(N? 2)₊ this problem is well posed in the class of large solutions which tend to infinity on the boundary in a strong sense. As is well known, initial data with such a generality are not allowed for m≧ 1. On the other hand, the present theory fails in several aspects in the subcritical range 0> m≦m _c , where the limits of smooth solutions need not be extended-continuously.     

Stability of Periodic Solutions¶of Conservation Laws with Viscosity:¶Pointwise Bounds on the Green Function

We investigate stability of periodic traveling-wave solutions of systems of conservation laws with viscosity within the abstract Evans function framework established by R. A. Gardner. Our main result, generalizing the work of Zumbrun and Howard in the traveling-front or -pulse setting, is to establish sharp pointwise bounds on the Green function for the linearized evolution equations, provided that an appropriate Evans function condition applies to the linearized operator about the wave. This condition is equivalent to a spectral stability criterion introduced by Schneider in the context of periodic reaction-diffusion waves. An immediate consequence is that strong spectral stability (in the sense of Schneider) implies linearized L¹ → L ^p asymptotic stability for all p > 1. On the other hand, we show that the strict version of Schneider's condition genericallyfails in the conservation law setting, leading to complicated new “metastable” behavior reminiscent of that seen for degenerate, neutrally stable families in the traveling-front or -pulse case. Our results apply also to the reaction-diffusion setting, sharpening (at the linearized level) results obtained by Schneider using weighted-norm and Bloch-decomposition methods.As in the traveling-front or -pulse case, the basic approach is to mimic in the Laplace-transform setting the elementary Fourier-transform analysis of the constant-coefficient case. However, the technical issues involved are rather different in the two cases. Somewhat surprisingly, we find the analogy to the constant-coefficient case to be rather stronger in the periodic-coefficient case, permitting a more standard approach involving the explicit construction of “continuous” spectral measure as in the self-adjoint case. This is equivalent to the method of Zumbrun and Howard in this special case.     

Global Existence in Critical Spaces¶for Flows of Compressible¶Viscous and Heat-Conductive Gases

We are concerned with global existence and uniqueness of strong solutions for a general model of viscous and heat-conductive gases. The initial data are supposed to be close to a stable equilibrium with constant density and temperature. Using uniform estimates for the linearized system with a convection term, we get global well-posedness in a functional setting invariant with respect to the scaling of the associated equations (in space dimension N≧3). We also show a smoothing effect on the velocity and the temperature, and a decay on the difference between the density and the constant reference state. These results extend a previous paper devoted to the barotropic case (see [5]).     

From the Boltzmann Equations¶to the Equations of¶Incompressible Fluid Mechanics, II

We consider here the problem of deriving rigorously from renormalized solutions of Boltzmann's equation, globally in time, for general initial conditions and without any additional assumption, solutions of Stokes' equations (together with the strong Boussinesq relation). We also obtain similar results for Euler equations where, however, we need to make an assumption on the high velocities of the solutions of Boltzmann's equation.     

Universal Attractors¶for the Navier-Stokes Equations¶of Compressible and Heat-Conductive Fluid¶in Bounded Annular Domains in ℝn

This paper is concerned with the dynamics for the Navier-Stokes equations for a polytropic viscous heat-conductive ideal gas in bounded annular domains Ω _n in ? ⁿ (n= 2, 3). One of the important features of this problem is that the metric spaces H ⁽¹⁾ and H ⁽²⁾ we work with are two incomplete metric spaces, as can be seen from the constraints θ >0 and u> 0, withθ and u being absolute temperature and specific volume respectively. For any constants δ₁, δ₂, δ₃, δ₄, δ₅ satisfying certain conditions, two sequences of closed subspaces H ^{( i )} _δ?H ^{( i )} (i= 1,2) are found, and the existence of two (maximal) universal attractors in H ⁽¹⁾ _δ and H ⁽²⁾ _δ is proved.     

Constitutive Relations for Monatomic Gases¶Based on a¶Generalized Rational Approximation¶to the Sum of the Chapman-Enskog Expansion

. We study the asymptotic behavior as time goes to infinity of solutions to the initial‐boundary‐value problem on the half space for a one‐dimensional model system for the isentropic flow of a compressible viscous gas, the so‐called p‐system with viscosity. As boundary conditions, we prescribe the constant state at infinity and require that the velocity be zero at the boundary . When the velocity at infinity is negative and satisfies a condition on the magnitude, we prove that if the initial data are suitably close to those for the corresponding outgoing viscous shock profile, which is suitably far from the boundary, then a unique solution exists globally in time and tends toward the properly shifted viscous shock profile as the time goes to infinity. The proof is given by an elementary energy method. (Accepted March 2, 1998)     

Variational Problems¶on Multiply Connected Thin Strips II:¶Convergence of the Ginzburg-Landau

Let M be a planar embedded graph whose arcs meet transversally at the vertices; Let ?(M) be a strip-shaped domain around M, of width M except in a neighborhood of the singular points. Assume that the boundary of ?(M) is smooth. We consider the Ginzburg-Landau energy functional for superconductivity on ?(M). We prove that its minimizers converge in a suitable sense to the minimizers of a simpler functional on M. The supercurrents in ?(M) are shown to converge to one-dimensional currents in M.     

Singularities of Electromagnetic Fields¶in Polyhedral Domains

In this paper, we investigate the singular solutions of time-harmonic Maxwell equations in a domain which has edges and polyhedral corners. It is now well known that in the presence of non-convex edges, the solution fields have no square integrable gradients in general and that the main singularities are the gradients of singular functions of the Laplace operator [4,-5]. We show how this type of result can be derived from the classical Mellin analysis, and how this analysis leads to sharper results concerning the singular parts which belong to H¹. For the singular functions, we exhibit simple and explicit formulas based on (generalized) Dirichlet and Neumann singularities for the Laplace operator. These formulas are more explicit than the results announced in our note [10].