A simple sufficient condition for the quasiconvexity of elastic stored-energy functions in spaces which allow for cavitation (Q283573)

The authors prove a sufficient condition for an elastic stored energy to satisfy a quasiconvexity property. They consider energies written as \( I(u)=\int_\Omega W(u(x))dx\), where \(u:\Omega\subset\mathbb R^n\rightarrow\mathbb R^n\) represents the displacement field and \(n=2,3\). They look for the affine boundary conditions \(u_\lambda(x)=\lambda x\) on \(\partial \Omega \), with \(\lambda>0\) and which satisfy the quasiconvexity inequality \(I(u)\geq I(u_\lambda)\). In the 2D case, they consider energy densities of the type \(W(A)=\left| A\right|^q+h(\det A)\), where \(1<q<2\) and \(h\) is a convex and \(C^1\) function on \((0,\infty)\) which satisfies \(\lim_{t\rightarrow 0^+}h(t)=+\infty\), \(\lim \inf_{t\rightarrow\infty}\frac{h(t)}{t}>0\) and \(h(t)=+\infty\) if \(t\leq 0\). The main result proves that if \(\frac{1}{2^{3-q}h'(\lambda ^2)\lambda ^{2-q}}\geq (q-1)^{(q-1)/2}q^{-q/2}\), then every \(u\in\mathcal A:=\{u\in W^{1,q}(\Omega ,\mathbb R^2):u=u_\lambda\) on \(\partial\Omega\), \(\det\nabla u>0\) a.e. in \(\Omega\}\) satisfies \(I(u)\geq I(u_\lambda)\). For the proof, the authors first impose a technical condition which was already imposed in the Definition 3.2 of the paper [\textit{S. Müller} and \textit{S. J. Spector}, Arch. Ration. Mech. Anal. 131, No. 1, 1--66 (1995; Zbl 0836.73025)] and they obtain a quasiconvexity property assuming that \(\int_\Omega\det\nabla udx=\int_\Omega\det \nabla u_\lambda dx\) or \(h'(\lambda ^2)\leq 0\). They also extend an estimate on \(\left| A+B\right|^q-\left| A\right| ^q-q\left| A\right| ^{q-2}A\cdot B\) presented by \textit{K. Zhang} [Arch. Ration. Mech. Anal. 114, No. 2, 95--117 (1991; Zbl 0734.73009)] for every \(A,B\in\mathbb R^{n\times n}\). They finally prove an upper estimate for \[ \int_\Omega\frac{2\lambda^2(\mathrm{curl }u)^2}{((\mathrm{curl }u)^2+\max(4\lambda^2,(\operatorname{div}u)^2))^{3/2}}dx. \] In the 3D case, the authors consider energy densities of the type \(W(A)=\left| A\right|^q+\gamma \left| A\right|^2+Z(cofA)+h(\det A)\), where \(2<q<3\), \(\gamma>0\), \(Z:\mathbb R^{3\times 3}\rightarrow [ 0,+\infty )\) is a convex and \(C^1\) function and \(h\) satisfies the above indicated hypotheses. Here, the authors prove that if \(\lambda>0\) is such that \(\frac{\kappa }{h'(\lambda^3)\lambda^{3-q}}\geq (q-2)^{(q-2)/2}q^{-q/2}\) with \( 2^{2-q}\leq \kappa \leq q2^{1-q}\) and \(\frac{\gamma}{\lambda h'(\lambda^3)}>\frac{1}{2}\), then a similar quasiconvexity result holds. In both cases, the authors prove an upper error estimate for \(\int_{\Omega}\min(\left| \nabla u-1\right|^2,\left| \nabla u-1\right|^q)dx\) or \(\int_\Omega\left| \nabla u-1\right|^qdx\) in terms of \(I(u)-I(u_\lambda)\).