Linearization of elasticity models for incompressible materials (Q2150909)

This paper obtains linear elasticity as \(\Gamma\)-limit of finite elasticity under incompressibility assumptions and Dirichlet boundary conditions, the result shown for a large class of energy densities for rubber-like materials. The rubber-like materials are modeled as being incompressible and hyperplastic, so their discerption requires an empirical strain energy density. Similar properties are observed in soft biological tissues. This paper considers a hyperelastic body occupying a bounded open region with the presence of body force field. The energy of the system is given by the stored elastic energy and the contribution of the external forces field. The view point of the calculus of variations, in derivation of linearized elasticity from finite elasticity is taken into considerations with Dirichlet boundary value problems proven in the compressible case. This paper extends those results to the incompressible case. As the authors point out, the crucial point consists in analyzing vector potentials, which this paper deals with. In Section two the paper gives the main result and proves it, by developping suitable approximation results that are used for construction of the recovery sequence in the proof of the main result. The main result is given as a theorem and proves assumptions and a corollary. In Section three preliminary results on vector potentials are given. They are given and explained by proving eight Lemmas. Section four deals with approximation results. This is obtained and proved in full detail through nine Lemmas. Section five gives the proof of the main result in detail, with the help of several Lemmas presented and proved carefully. At the end the authors give acknowledgements and 57 references.