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Γ-convergence of energies for nematic elastomers in the small strain limit

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Abstract

We study two variational models recently proposed in the literature to describe the mechanical behaviour of nematic elastomers either in the fully nonlinear regime or in the framework of a geometrically linear theory. We show that, in the small strain limit, the energy functional of the first one Γ-converges to the relaxation of the second one, a functional for which an explicit representation formula is available.

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Correspondence to Virginia Agostiniani.

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Communicated by Prof. Yury Grabovsky.

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Agostiniani, V., DeSimone, A. Γ-convergence of energies for nematic elastomers in the small strain limit. Continuum Mech. Thermodyn. 23, 257–274 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00161-011-0180-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00161-011-0180-2

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