Abstract
Global uniqueness of the smooth stress and deformation to within the usual rigid-body translation and rotation is established in the null traction boundary value problem of nonlinear homogeneous elasticity on a n-dimensional star-shaped region. A complementary energy is postulated to be a function of the Biot stress and to be para-convex and rank-(n-1) convex, conditions analogous to quasi-convexity and rank-(n-2) of the stored energy function. Uniqueness follows immediately from an identity involving the complementary energy and the Piola-Kirchhoff stress. The interrelationship is discussed between the two conditions imposed on the complementary energy, and between these conditions and those known for uniqueness in the linear elastic traction boundary value problem.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ball, J.M., ‘Discontinuous equilibrium solutions and cavitation in nonlinear elasticity’, Philos. Trans. Roy. Soc. London. A306 (1982) 557-611.
Bramble, J.H. and Payne, L.E., ‘Some uniqueness theorems in the theory of elasticity’, Arch. Rational Mech. Anal. 9 (1962) 319-328.
Bramble, J.H. and Payne, L.E., ‘On the uniqueness problem in the second boundary-problem in elasticity’, in: Proc. Fourth U.S. National Congress of Applied Mechanics 1962 pp. 469-473.
Chillingworth, D.R.L., Marsden, J.E. and Wan, Y.H., ‘Symmetry and bifurcation in three-dimensional elasticity. Part I'. Arch. Rational Mech. Anal. 80 (1982) 295-331.
Chillingworth, D.R.L., Marsden, J.E. and Wan, Y.H., ‘Symmetry and bifurcation in three-dimensional elasticity. Part II'. Arch. Rational Mech. Anal. 83 (1983) 362-395.
Ciarlet, P.G., Mathematical Elasticity, Three-Dimensional Elasticity, Vol. I, North-Holland, Amsterdam, 1988.
Dancer, E.N. and Zhang, K., Uniqueness of Solutions for Some Elliptic Equations and Systems in Nearly Star-Shaped Domains, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Sydney, 1997, Preprint.
Gao, D.Y., ‘General analytic solutions and complementary variational principles for large deformation nonsmooth mechanics’, Meccanica 34 (1999) 169-198.
Gouin, H. and Debieve, J.-F., ‘Variational principle involving the stress tensor in elastodynamics’, Int. J. Eng. Sci. 24 (1986) 1057-1066.
Green, A.E., ‘On some general formulae in finite elastostatics’, Arch. Rational Mech. Anal. 50 (1973) 73-80.
Gurtin, M.E. and Spector, S.J., ‘On stability and uniqueness in finite elasticity’, Arch. Rational Mech. Anal. 70 (1970) 152-165.
Fraeijs de Veubeke, B., ‘A new variational principle for finite elastic displacements’, Int. J. Eng. Sci. 10 (1970) 745-763.
Fonseca, I., ‘The lower quasiconvex envelope of the stored energy function for an elastic crystal’, J. Math. Pures Appl. 67 (1988) 175-195.
Hanyga, A., Mathematical Theory of Non-Linear Elasticity, Polish Scientific Publishers, Warsaw and Ellis-Horwood, Chichester, 1985.
Hill, R., ‘On uniqueness and stability in the theory of finite elastic strain’, J. Mech. Phys. Solids 5 (1957) 229-241.
Hill, R., ‘Bifurcation and uniqueness in non-linear mechanics of continua’, in: Problems of Continuum Mechanics, SIAM, Philadelphia, 1961, pp. 155-164.
Hill, R., ‘Energy-momentum tensors in elastostatics: some reflections on the general theory’, J. Mech. Phys. Solids 34 (1986) 305-317.
Koiter, W.T., ‘On the complementary energy theorem in non-linear elasticity theory’, in: G. Fichera (ed.), Trends in Applications of Pure Mathematics to Mechanics, Pitman, London, 1976, pp. 207-231.
Knops, R.J. and Stuart, C.A., ‘Quasiconvexity and uniqueness of equilibrium solutions in nonlinear elasticity’, Arch. Rational Mech. Anal. 86 (1984) 233-249.
Knops, R.J. and Williams, H.T., ‘On the uniqueness of the null-traction boundary value problem in nonlinear elastostatics’, in: Iooss, G., Gues, O. and Nouri, A. (eds), Trends in the Applications of Mathematics to Mechanics, Chapman and Hall/CRC Press, London, 2000, pp. 26-32.
Kristensen, J., Private communication.
Marsden, J.E. and Wan, Y.H., ‘Linearization stability and Signorini series for the traction problem in elastostatics’, Proc. Roy. Soc. Edin. A95 (1983) 171-180.
Maugin, G.A. and Trimarco, C., ‘Note on a mixed variational principle in finite elasticity’, Rend. Mat. Acc. Lincei 9(3) (1992) 69-74.
Müller, S., ‘Variational models for microstructure and phase transitions’, in: Hildebrandt, S. and Struwe, M. (eds), Proc. C.I.M.E. Summer School “Calculus of Variations and Geometric Evolution Problems” Cetraro, 1996.
Nemat-Nasser, S., ‘General variational principles in nonlinear and linear elasticity with applications’, in: Nemat-Nasser, S. (ed.), Mechanics Today Vol. 1, Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1974, pp. 214-261.
Ogden, R.W., Non-Linear Elastic Deformations, Wiley, Ellis Horwood, Chichester, 1984.
Rupprecht, G., ‘A singular perturbation approach to nonlinear shell theory’, Rocky Mountain J. Maths. 11 (1981) 75-98.
Sewell, M.J., Maximum and Minimum Principles, Cambridge Texts in Applied Mathematics, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1987.
Shield, R.T., ‘On the uniqueness for the traction boundary-value problem of linear elastostatics’, in: Nemat-Nasser, S. (ed.), Mechanics Today Vol. 5, Pergamon Press, Oxford 1980, pp. 437-453.
Spector, S., ‘On uniqueness in finite elasticity with general loading’, J. Elast. 10 (1980) 149-161.
Spector, S.J., ‘On uniqueness for the traction problem in finite elasticity’, J. Elast. 12 (1982) 367-383.
Truesdell, C.A. and Noll, W., ‘The non-linear field theories of mechanics’, in: Flugge, S. (ed.), Handbuch der Physik Vol. III,No. 3, Springer, Berlin, 1965.
Truesdell, C.A. and Toupin, R.A., ‘Principles of classical mechanics and field theory’, in: Flugge, S. (ed.), Handbuch der Physik Vol. III,No(1), Springer, Berlin, 1960.
Wan, Y.H. and Marsden, J.E., ‘Symmetry and bifurcation in three-dimensional elasticity, Part III: Stressed reference configuration’, Arch. Rational Mech. Anal. 84 (1984) 203-233.
Wang, C.-C. and Truesdell, C., Introduction to Rational Elasticity, Noordhoff, Leiden, 1973.
Washizu, K., Variational Methods in Elasticity and Plasticity, 2nd edn, Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1975.
Williams, H.T., Jamil, S. and Coveney, V.A., ‘Novel constitutive laws for elastomers’, in: Boast, D. and Coveney, V.A. (eds), Finite Element Analysis of Elastomers, Professional Engineering Publishing, 1999, pp. 27-39.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Knops, R., Trimarco, C. & Williams, H. Uniqueness and Complementary Energy in Nonlinear Elastostatics. Meccanica 38, 519–534 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024775130090
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024775130090