Existence theory to the equations in viscoelasticity at finite deformations

In this paper we prove under the assumption of small initial data the global existence of a classical solution to the equations in viscoelasticity, associated with a free damping boundary condition. We also show that if we choose the initial data large enough, blow up will occur in finite time. © 1998 B. G. Teubner Stuttgart–John Wiley & Sons Ltd.