On spatial and material settings of thermo-hyperelastodynamics for open systems

Summary.

 The present treatise aims at deriving a general framework for the thermodynamics of open systems typically encountered in chemo- or biomechanical applications. Due to the fact that an open system is allowed to constantly gain or lose mass, the classical conservation law of mass has to be recast into a balance equation balancing the rate of change of the current mass with a possible in- or outflux of matter and an additional volume source term. The influence of the generalized mass balance on the balance of momentum, kinetic energy, total energy and entropy is highlighted. Thereby, special focus is dedicated to the strict distinction between a volume specific and a mass specific format of the balance equations which is of no particular relevance in classical thermodynamics of closed systems. The change in density furnishes a typical example of a local rearrangement of material inhomogeneities which can be characterized most elegantly in the material setting. The set of balance equations for open systems will thus be derived for both, the spatial and the material motion problem. Thereby, we focus on the one hand on highlighting the remarkable duality between both approaches. On the other hand, special emphasis is placed on deriving appropriate relations between the spatial and the material motion quantities.

The mathematical sciences particularly exhibit

order, symmetry, and limitation; and these are

the greatest forms of the beautiful.

Aristotle, Metaphysica