Generalized potential formulations for elastostatics of constitutively nonlinear structures under general loading (Q1370494)

Extremum problem formulations are presented that are applicable for the equilibrium analysis of continuum structures made up of a non-specific, aeleotropic and inhomogeneous, constitutively nonlinear material. The formulations are described for linear deformation kinematics, and they amount to generalizations of the classical characterization in terms of potentials for elastostatics with nonlinear materials. In one case, a generalized version of the classical minimum potential energy formulation is obtained using a representation of total strain expressed as a linear composition of independent fields. The second formulation provides a generalized model of the classical complementary energy principle. Here total stress is expressed as a composition of independent fields, and there is a separable potential associated with each of these constituent fields.