A quasistatic evolution model for perfectly plastic plates derived by Γ-convergence

The subject of this paper is the rigorous derivation of a quasistatic evolution model for a linearly elastic–perfectly plastic thin plate. As the thickness of the plate tends to zero, we prove via Γ-convergence techniques that solutions to the three-dimensional quasistatic evolution problem of Prandtl–Reuss elastoplasticity converge to a quasistatic evolution of a suitable reduced model. In this limiting model the admissible displacements are of Kirchhoff–Love type and the stretching and bending components of the stress are coupled through a plastic flow rule. Some equivalent formulations of the limiting problem in rate form are derived, together with some two-dimensional characterizations for suitable choices of the data.     

Quasistatic Evolution Problems for Pressure-sensitive Plastic Materials

We study quasistatic evolution problems for pressure-sensitive plastic materials in the context of small strain associative perfect plasticity. Received: April 2007     

A vanishing viscosity approach to a quasistatic evolution problem with nonconvex energy

We study a quasistatic evolution problem for a nonconvex elastic energy functional. Due to lack of convexity, the natural energetic formulation can be obtained only in the framework of Young measures. Since the energy functional may present multiple wells, an evolution driven by global minimizers may exhibit unnatural jumps from one well to another one, which overcome large potential barriers. To avoid this phenomenon, we study a notion of solution based on a viscous regularization. Finally we compare this solution with the one obtained with global minimization.     

A variational inequality and applications to quasistatic problems with Coulomb friction

The aim of this paper is to study an evolution variational inequality that generalizes some contact problems with Coulomb friction in small deformation elasticity. Using an incremental procedure, appropriate estimates and convergence properties of the discrete solutions, the existence of a continuous solution is proved. This abstract result is applied to quasistatic contact problems with a local Coulomb friction law for nonlinear Hencky and also for linearly elastic materials.     

Regularity of stresses in Prandtl-Reuss perfect plasticity

We study the differential properties of solutions of the Prandtl-Reuss model. We prove that in dimensions n = 2, 3 the stress tensor has locally square-integrable first derivatives: . The result is based on discretization of time and uniform estimates of solutions of the incremental problems, which generalize the estimates in the case of Hencky perfect plasticity. Counterexamples to the regularity of displacements and plastic strains in the quasistatic case are presented.      

Solvability of dynamic antiplane frictional contact problems for viscoelastic cylinders

We study a mathematical model which describes the antiplane shear deformations of a cylinder in frictional contact with a rigid foundation. The process is dynamic, the material behavior is described with a linearly viscoelastic constitutive law and friction is modeled with a general subdifferential boundary condition. We derive a variational formulation of the model which is in a form of an evolutionary hemivariational inequality for the displacement field. Then we prove the existence of a weak solution to the model. The proof is based on an abstract result for second order evolutionary inclusions in Banach spaces. Also, we prove that, under additional assumptions, the weak solution to the model is unique. We complete our results with concrete examples of friction laws for which our results are valid.     

Stress formulation for frictionless contact of an elastic-perfectly-plastic body

A mathematical model for frictionless contact of a deformable body with a rigid moving obstacle is analyzed. The Prandtl–Reuss elastic-perfectly-plastic constitutive law is used to describe the material's behavior, and contact is modeled with a unilateral condition imposed on the surface velocity. The problem is motivated by the process of the plowing of the ground. A variational formulation of the problem is derived in terms of the stresses and the existence of the unique weak solution is proven. The proof is based on arguments for differential inclusions obtained in A. Amassad, M. Shillor and M. Sofonea (2001). A quasistatic contact problem for an elastic perfectly plastic body with Tresca's friction. Nonlin. Anal., 35, 95–109. Finally, a study of the continuous dependence of the solution on the data is presented.     

Existence of a solution for a quasistatic problem of unilateral contact with local friction

The existence result in linear elasticity obtained for the quasistatic problem of unilateral contact with regularized Coulomb friction is extented to a local friction problem. After discretizing the implicit variational inequality with respect to time, we have to solve a sequence of variational inequalities similar to the one of the static problem. If the friction coefficient is small enough, we show the existence of the incremental solution. We construct a suitable sequence of functions converging towards a quasistatic solution of the problem.     

Analysis of a dynamic contact problem for electro-viscoelastic cylinders

We consider a mathematical model which describes the antiplane shear deformations of a piezoelectric cylinder in frictional contact with a foundation. The process is mechanically dynamic and electrically static, the material behavior is described with a linearly electro-viscoelastic constitutive law, the contact is frictional and the foundation is assumed to be electrically conductive. Both the friction and the electrical conductivity condition on the contact surface are described with subdifferential boundary conditions. We derive a variational formulation of the problem which is of the form of a system coupling a second order hemivariational inequality for the displacement field with a time-dependent hemivariational inequality for the electric potential field. Then we prove the existence of a unique weak solution to the model. The proof is based on abstract results for second order evolutionary inclusions in Banach spaces. Finally, we present concrete examples of friction laws and electrical conductivity conditions for which our result is valid.     

A frictionless contact problem for elastic–viscoplastic materials with normal compliance: Numerical analysis and computational experiments

Summary. In this paper we consider a frictionless contact problem between an elastic–viscoplastic body and an obstacle. The process is assumed to be quasistatic and the contact is modeled with normal compliance. We present a variational formulation of the problem and prove the existence and uniqueness of the weak solution, using strongly monotone operators arguments and Banach's fixed point theorem. We also study the numerical approach to the problem using spatially semi-discrete and fully discrete finite elements schemes with implicit and explicit discretization in time. We show the existence of the unique solution for each of the schemes and derive error estimates on the approximate solutions. Finally, we present some numerical results involving examples in one, two and three dimensions. Received May 20, 2000 / Revised version received January 8, 2001 / Published online June 7, 2001     

Analysis of a thermo‐viscoplastic model with Lipschitz continuous constitutive equations

We study a thermo‐mechanical model, where the mechanical inelastic model with a Lipschitz–continuous constitutive relation for the plastic strain is coupled with a heat equation. The main results are the local‐in‐time existence and uniqueness of the solution to the considered model and the existence of the solution for an arbitrarily long time interval for the sufficiently small given data. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Quasistatic crack growth in 2d-linearized elasticity

In this paper we prove a two-dimensional existence result for a variational model of crack growth for brittle materials in the realm of linearized elasticity. Starting with a time-discretized version of the evolution driven by a prescribed boundary load, we derive a time-continuous quasistatic crack growth in the framework of generalized special functions of bounded deformation ($GSBD$). As the time-discretization step tends to zero, the major difficulty lies in showing the stability of the static equilibrium condition, which is achieved by means of a Jump Transfer Lemma generalizing the result of [19] to the $GSBD$ setting. Moreover, we present a general compactness theorem for this framework and prove existence of the evolution without imposing a-priori bounds on the displacements or applied body forces.     

Existence of solution for a nonlinear model of thermo‐visco‐plasticity

We study a thermodynamically consistent model describing phenomena in a visco‐plastic metal subjected to temperature changes. We complete the model with the mixed boundary condition on displacement and stress and Neumann‐type condition for temperature. The main result is an existence of solutions.     

Numerical analysis of a frictional contact problem for viscoelastic materials with long-term memory

We consider a mathematical model which describes the bilateral contact between a deformable body and an obstacle. The process is quasistatic, the material is assumed to be viscoelastic with long memory and the friction is modeled with Tresca’s law. The problem has a unique weak solution. Here we study spatially semi-discrete and fully discrete schemes using finite differences and finite elements. We show the convergence of the schemes under the basic solution regularity and we derive order error estimates. Finally, we present an algorithm for the numerical realization and simulations for a two-dimensional test problem.     

Quasistatic and dynamic problems in viscoplasticity theory—non‐linearities with power growth

We find a common abstract formulation of the quasistatic and dynamic problems from viscoplasticity theory. Based on this formulation we show existence and uniqueness of the solution to this abstract problem by choosing appropriate spaces and by reducing the problem to an evolution equation, which can be treated by the general theory of monotone operators in Hilbert space. Our proof is valid for non‐linearities in the constitutive equation with power law growth. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A quasistatic contact problem for viscoelastic materials with friction and damage

We consider a mathematical model which describes the frictional contact between a deformable body and a foundation. The process is quasistatic, the material is assumed to be viscoelastic with long memory and the frictional contact is modelled with subdifferential boundary conditions. The mechanical damage of the material is described by the damage function, which is modelled by a nonlinear partial differential equation. We derive the variational formulation of the problem, which is a coupled system of a hemivariational inequality and a parabolic equation. Then we prove the existence of a unique weak solution to the model. The proof is based on arguments of abstract stationary inclusion and a fixed point theorem.     

Blow-up and global existence for a general class of nonlocal nonlinear coupled wave equations

We study the initial-value problem for a general class of nonlinear nonlocal coupled wave equations. The problem involves convolution operators with kernel functions whose Fourier transforms are nonnegative. Some well-known examples of nonlinear wave equations, such as coupled Boussinesq-type equations arising in elasticity and in quasi-continuum approximation of dense lattices, follow from the present model for suitable choices of the kernel functions. We establish local existence and sufficient conditions for finite-time blow-up and as well as global existence of solutions of the problem.     

Quasistatic crack growth in finite elasticity with non-interpenetration

We present a variational model to study the quasistatic growth of brittle cracks in hyperelastic materials, in the framework of finite elasticity, taking into account the non-interpenetration condition.     

A differential equation approach to implicit sweeping processes

In this paper, we study an implicit version of the sweeping process. Based on methods of convex analysis, we prove the equivalence of the implicit sweeping process with a differential equation, which enables us to show the existence and uniqueness of the solution to the implicit sweeping process in a very general framework. Moreover, this equivalence allows us to give a characterization of nonsmooth Lyapunov pairs and invariance for implicit sweeping processes. The results of the paper are illustrated with two applications to quasistatic evolution variational inequalities and electrical circuits.     

Solitary waves in a tapered prestressed fluid-filled elastic tube

In the present work, treating the arteries as a tapered, thin walled, long and circularly conical prestressed elastic tube and using the longwave approximation, we have studied the propagation of weakly nonlinear waves in such a fluid-filled elastic tube by employing the reductive perturbation method. By considering the blood as an incompressible inviscid fluid the evolution equation is obtained as the Korteweg-de Vries equation with a variable coefficient. It is shown that this type of equations admit a solitary wave type of solution with variable wave speed. It is observed that, the wave speed increases with distance for positive tapering while it decreases for negative tapering.