Equilibrium problem for thermoelectroconductive body with the Signorini condition on the boundary

We investigate a boundary value problem for a thermoelectroconductive body with the Signorini condition on the boundary, related to resistance welding. The mathematical model consists of an energy‐balance equation coupled with an elliptic equation for the electric potential and a quasistatic momentum balance with a viscoelastic material law. We prove the existence of a weak solution to the model by using the Schauder fixed point theorem and classical results on pseudomonotone operators. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.