Weak solutions for an incompressible Newtonian fluid interacting with a Koiter type shell (Q2436326)

The nonstationary 3-D free boundary problem is considered in the paper. The velocity \(v(x,t)\), the pressure \(p(x,t)\), and the function \(\eta(x,t)\) describing a boundary of a domain \(\Omega_t\subset\mathbb{R}^3\) are sought for. \(\Omega_t\) depends on the time \(t\) and is occupied by an incompressible Newtonian fluid. The functions \(v\) and \(p\) satisfy the Navier-Stokes equations in \(\Omega_t\). The boundary conditions consist of two parts. The first part is the usual condition on the free boundary, that is, the velocity of the fluid on the boundary equals the velocity of the boundary. The second part of the boundary conditions is the force balance at the deformed boundary. This condition has a form specific for the considered mathematical model. In particular, the second time derivative of the function \(\eta(x,t)\) is a part of the force balance equation. It is proved that the problem has a weak solution \((v,p,\eta)\) on a time interval \((0,T)\) for all \(T<T^\star(v,\eta)\). \(T^\star=\infty\) if the data of the problem are sufficiently small.