Strain-gradient theory of hydroelastic travelling waves and Young measures of their singular limits (Q2428580)

In this comprehensive paper the authors study two-dimensional, steady, periodic waves traveling with constant speed, without changing shape, on the surface of an inviscid, incompressible fluid, under gravity. The surface is in contact with a heavy, thin elastic sheet. Furthermore, it is supposed that there are no frictional forces between the fluid and the sheet, and shear forces in the sheet are neglected. The fluid beneath the sheet is at rest at infinite depth and, relative to a frame moving with the wave, the fluid's velocity field is stationary and irrotational. The surface sheet is hyperelastic with a stored energy function that depends on the stretch, strain-gradient, and curvature. The paper investigates the balance between these elastic and hydrodynamic effects to produce a steady hydroelastic wave. The main result consists in a statement of the free-boundary problem satisfied by generalized maximizers, and a detailed description of the Young measures that arise as limits of a sequence of maximizers of problems regularized by strain-gradient effects.