Edge contact forces and quasi-balanced power (Q1360269)

We consider continuous media in which contact edge forces are present. Introducing the notion of quasi-balanced contact force distribution, we are able to prove some conjectures concerning the representation of contact edge forces. We generalize the Hamel-Noll theorem on the Cauchy postulate. Then we adapt the celebrated tetrahedron construction of Cauchy in order to obtain a representation theorem for stress states. In fact, we show that two stress tensors of order two and three are necessary for such a representation. Moreover, we find the relationship between the notion of interstitial working and the notion of contact edge force.