Generic unfolding of the thermoelastic contact instability (Q1597826)

The authors analyze the classical one-dimensional model of a thermoelastic rod fixed at one end and free to separate at the other end. A special boundary condition at the free end (known as Barber condition) is used to describe the thermoelastic contact instability. This boundary condition is characterized by a single function, called contact resistance function. In this work it is shown that for typical contact resistance a fold bifurcation is encountered. This represents a generic unfolding of the classical bifurcation (analyzed up to now in connection with this problem), and contains pitchfork bifurcation as a special case.