Existence of Global Weak Solutions to the Dynamical Problem for a Three-Dimensional Elastic Body with Singular Memory (Q4034145)

The nonlinear wave equation governing the evolution of the displacement vector \(u\) in an elastic body, \(\partial^ 2u/\partial t^ 2-\text{div }\sigma=f\) is studied. The authors consider a material with memory, having a constitutive relation of the form \(\sigma=\sigma^ I+\sigma^ M\), where \(\sigma_{ij}^ I=\partial W(e)/\partial e_{ij}\), \(\sigma_{ij}^ M=- \int_ 0^ t h(t-\tau) (\partial V(e)/\partial e_{ij}) (e(\tau)-e(t))d\tau\); \(e=(e_{ij})\) is the infinitesimal strain tensor. The tensors \(\partial^ 2 W/\partial e_{ij}\partial e_{kl}\) and \(\partial^ 2 V/\partial e_{ij}\partial e_{kl}\) are assumed to be positive definite; \(h\) is taken in the Boltzman form, i.e. \(h(t)=\lambda(t^{-\nu} a(t)+r(t))\), with \(0<\nu<1/2\), \(\lambda>0\). Both \(a\) and \(r\) are sufficiently smooth decreasing and nonnegative on \([0,\infty)\), with \(a(t)>0\) in some neighbourhood of the origin; the condition \(\int_ 0^ \infty h(\tau)d\tau<\infty\) is also assumed. The main result is a theorem on the global existence of a weak solution of an associated initial-boundary value problem. The proof is performed by constructing Galerkin approximations and deriving suitable energy estimates.