Interfacial energy and the Maxwell rule (Q2641129)

The following variational problem is considered: \[ \min \int_{\Omega}[W(\nabla u)-fu]dx+\int_{I}\Gamma dH^{n-1}- \int_{T}tudH^{n-1}, \] where u is a Lipschitz continuous vector function defined on a domain \(\Omega \subset {\mathbb{R}}^ 3\), W is a function defined on the space \(M_+^{3\times 3}\) of the \(3\times 3\) matrices with positive determinant, I is the family of the surfaces along which \(\nabla u\) is not continuous (interfaces), T is a portion of the boundary \(\partial \Omega\), f and t are given vector functions, \(\Gamma\) is a function defined on the set of elements \((F,a,n)\in M_+^{3\times 3}\times {\mathbb{R}}^ 3\times {\mathbb{R}}^ 3\) such that \(\det (F+a\otimes n)>0.\) The competing functions u are chosen in a class of admissible deformations satisfying the condition det \(\nabla u>0\) and \([\nabla u]=a\otimes n\) on the interfaces, where n is the normal unit vector of the interface and a is a given function. The physical interpretation of such a problem is related with the equilibrium configurations of a hyperelastic solid (with or without crystal structure): in this case W is the strain energy density, \(\Gamma\) is a surface energy density accounting for jumps in deformation gradient, f represents the body forces, and t is the surface traction on a portion T of the boundary. The main feature of this approach is to include directly in the total energy a term of interfacial energy; the aim is to study the consequences of this inclusion on the formation of the interfaces. The main results are: a geometric necessary condition for metastable equilibrium configurations which allows the selection of a finite number of interfacial directions, as observed in experiments; a result of neck forming near the interfaces; a quasi-convexity property for \(\Gamma\) ; symmetry and structure properties of the matrices \((\partial \Gamma /\partial F)F^ T\), which are analogous to the Cauchy stress tensor on the interfaces; the Maxwell rule in the points of continuity of det \(\nabla u\) across the interfaces.