Well-posedness results for a model of damage in thermoviscoelastic materials

This paper deals with a phase transitions model describing the evolution of damage in thermoviscoelastic materials. The resulting system is highly non-linear, mainly due to the presence of quadratic dissipative terms and non-smooth constraints on the variables. Existence and uniqueness of a solution are proved, as well as regularity results, on a suitable finite time interval.     

Thermal stresses in a viscoelastic three-phase composite cylinder

A thermoviscoelastic analysis of a three-phase composite cylinder is presented in this work. The solutions of the heat conduction and thermoelastic problem for three dissimilar media are derived based on the method of analytic continuation associated with the alternation technique. A rapidly convergent series solution for both the temperature and stress field, which is expressed in terms of an explicit general term of the corresponding homogeneous potential, is obtained in an elegant form. The hereditary integral in conjunction with the Kelvin–Maxwell model is applied to simulate the thermoviscoelastic properties while a thermorheologically simple material is considered. According to the correspondence principle, the Laplace transformed thermoviscoelastic solution is directly determined from the corresponding thermoelastic one. The real time solution can then be solved numerically by taking inverse Laplace transform. Finally, some typical examples of interfacial stresses are discussed.     

Thermomechanical behavior of thermoset shape memory polymer programmed by cold-compression: Testing and constitutive modeling

Programming is a key process for thermally activated stress or strain recovery of shape memory polymers (SMPs). Typically, programming requires an initial heating above the glass transition temperature (T_g), subsequent cooling below T_g and removal of the applied load, in order to fix a temporary shape. This work adopted a new approach to program thermoset SMPs directly at temperatures well below T_g, which effectively simplified the shape fixing process. 1-D compression programming below T_g and free shape recovery of a thermoset SMP were experimentally investigated. Functional stability of the shape fixity under various environmental attacks was also experimentally evaluated. A mechanism-based thermoviscoelastic-thermoviscoplastic constitutive model incorporating structural and stress relaxation was then developed to predict the nonlinear shape memory behavior of the SMP trained below T_g. Comparison between the prediction and the experiment showed good agreement. The structure dependence of the thermomechanical behavior of the SMP was further discussed through a parametric study per the validated constitutive model. This study validates that programming by cold-compression is a viable alternative for thermally responsive thermoset SMPs.     

A combined measurement of thermal and mechanical relaxation

In order to describe relaxation the thermodynamic coefficient can be generalized into a complex frequency-dependent cross response function. We explore theoretically the possibility of measuring for a supercooled liquid near the glass transition. This is done by placing a thermistor in the middle of the liquid which itself is contained in a spherical piezoelectric shell. The piezoelectric voltage response to a thermal power generated in the thermistor is found to be proportional to but factors pertaining to heat diffusion and adiabatic compressibility κ_S(ω) do also intervene. We estimate a measurable piezoelectric voltage of 1 mV to be generated at 1 Hz for a heating power of 0.3 mW. Together with κ_S(ω) and the longitudinal specific heat c_l(ω) which may also be found in the same setup a complete triple of thermoviscoelastic response functions may be determined when supplemented with shear modulus data.     

Modeling via the internal energy balance and analysis of adhesive contact with friction in thermoviscoelasticity

In this paper we introduce and investigate a model for adhesive contact with friction between a thermoviscoelastic body and a rigid support.A PDE system, consisting of the evolution equations for the temperatures in the bulk domain and on the contact surface, of the momentum balance, and of the equation for the internal variable describing the state of the adhesion, is derived on the basis of a surface damage theory by M. Frémond.The existence of global-in-time solutions to the associated initial–boundary value problem is proved by passing to the limit in a carefully tailored time-discretization scheme.     

On uniqueness and analyticity in thermoviscoelastic solids with voids

In this paper we consider the most general system proposed to describe the thermoviscoelasticity with voids. We study two qualitative properties of the solutions of this theory. First, we obtain a uniqueness result when we do not assume any sign to the internal energy. Second we extend some previous results and prove the analyticity of the solutions. The impossibility of localization in time of the solutions is a consequence. Last result we present corresponds to the analyticity of solutions in case that the dissipation is not very strong, but with suitable coupling terms.     

Controllability and Stabilization in Elasticity, Heat Conduction and Thermoelasticity: Review of Recent Developments*

The aim of this paper is to review developments in exact and approximate controllability as well as stabilization of elastic, thermoelastic, and thermo-viscoelastic bodies. Heat equations are also discussed.     

A dynamic contact problem in thermoviscoelasticity with two temperatures

This work is concerned with the study of a one-dimensional dynamic contact problem arising in thermoviscoelasticity with two temperatures. The existence and uniqueness of a solution to the continuous problem is established using the Faedo–Galerkin method. A finite element approximation is proposed, a convergence result given and some numerical simulations described.     

Mathematical and numerical approaches to a one-dimensional dynamic thermoviscoelastic contact problem

In this paper, we propose numerical schemes for solving a nonlinear system which consists of a coupled partial differential equations and two conditions, called normal compliance contact condition and Barber’s heat exchange condition. The convergence of numerical trajectories is shown by using a time discretization and passing the limit of the time step size. The uniqueness of the weak solution is proved as well. We derive the extensive form of an energy balance which will be a criterion to examine numerical stability. An example is provided to present and discuss numerical results.     

Finite element approximation to a contact problem for a nonlinear thermoviscoelastic beam

In this paper we propose and analyze a finite element method to the solution of a quasi-static contact problem between a nonlinear beam and a rigid obstacle. Error estimates and energy decay are obtained and some numerical simulations described.