Visco-elastodynamics at large strains Eulerian

TL;DR

This paper develops a mathematical model for large-strain visco-elastodynamics in Eulerian coordinates, incorporating complex rheology and proving the existence of weak solutions under semi-compressible assumptions.

Contribution

It introduces a novel Eulerian formulation for visco-elastodynamics with nonconvex energy and advanced viscosity, proving existence of solutions with minimal volume variation assumptions.

Findings

Existence of weak solutions established.

Model accommodates nonconvex and frame-indifferent energies.

Regularity results for velocity fields obtained.

Abstract

Isothermal visco-elastodynamics in the Kelvin-Voigt rheology is formulated in the spatial Eulerian coordinates in terms of velocity and deformation gradient. A generally nonconvex (possibly also frame-indifferent) stored energy is admitted. The model involves a nonlinear 2nd-grade nonsimple (multipolar) viscosity so that the velocity field is well regular. To simplify analytical arguments, volume variations of the solid material are assumed to be only rather small so that the mass density is constant, exploiting the concept of semi-compressible materials. Existence of weak solutions is proved by using the Galerkin method combined with a suitable regularization, using nontrivial results about transport by smooth velocity fields.