Global existence and asymptotic behavior in nonlinear thermoviscoelasticity (Q678019)

This paper is concerned with the global existence and large-time behavior of weak solutions to initial boundary value problems in one-dimensional nonlinear thermoviscoelasticity. The model studied in the paper includes the Landau-Devonshire model for the study of phase transition problems in the shape memory alloys, and the assumption on the initial data allows the coexistence of different phases in the material. Using the energy method, the technique of Andrew and Pego, and delicate estimates in \(W^{2,\infty}\), the authors prove the existence, uniqueness, and time-asymptotic stability of weak solutions. This paper extends the results of Andrew, Ball, and Pego on nonlinear viscoelasticity, and improves the results of Chen, Hoffmann, and Luo on nonlinear thermoviscoelasticity.