Mathematical models in contact mechanics (Q2899319)

The essential aim of the book Mathematical Models in Contact Mechanics is to consider a wide set of problems arising in the mathematical modelling of mechanical systems under unilateral constraints. In these investigations elastic and nonelastic deformations, specific frictional contact problems with elastic, viscoelastic, viscoplastic materials are taken into account. All the necessary mathematical tools are given: value problem formulations, construction of history-dependent quasivariational inequalities and the transition to minimization problems, existence and uniqueness theorems and convergence results for variational inequalities. The basic notion of the unique solvability of elliptic variational inequalities and quasivariational inequalities with strongly monotone Lipschitz continuous operators is introduced in Chapter 2. The study of variational inequalities which involve the so-called history-dependent operators is presented in Chapter 3. The authors provide in Chapters 3--4 a general description of the mathematical modelling of the processes involved in contact between an elastic, viscoelastic or viscoplastic body and an obstacle (a foundation). In Chapter 6, the authors illustrate the use of the abstract results obtained in Chapter 3 in the study of quasistatic frictionless and frictional contact problems. The contact is either bilateral or modelled with normal compliance condition with or without unilateral constraint. The friction is modelled with Coulomb's law and its version. Chapter 7 covers the study of three frictionless of frictional contact problems with piezoelectric bodies. The material's behavior with an electro-elastic, an electro-viscoelastic and electro-viscoplastic constitutive law, respectively, is modelled.NEWLINENEWLINEImportant new results concern contact problems with piezoelectric materials. The corresponding new types of variational inequalities are constructed. The authors apply the abstract results concerning variational inequalities to prove the unique solvability of the corresponding contact problems.NEWLINENEWLINEThe volume is primarily addressed to applied mathematicians working in the field of nonlinear partial differential equations and their applications. However, the book will also be useful for scientists from application areas, in particular, applied scientists from engineering and physics.