Nonlinear waves for viscoelasticity with fading memory (Q1113353)

Nonlinear waves for a model of viscoelastic materials are constructed and analyzed. There are traveling waves, expansion waves, and diffusion waves. The stress in the model depends on the present strain as well as its past history. Traveling waves are studied based on the admissibility criterion for the models with equilibrium or instantaneous elastic response. Expansion waves and diffusion waves are constructed in the time-asymptotic sense. Asymptotic states with given end states are constructed and consist of these elementary waves.