A discrete variational scheme for isentropic processes in polyconvex thermoelasticity (Q786066)

The authors consider the system of adiabatic thermoelasticity. To this, they associate a symmetrizable and hyperbolic system that possesses a convex entropy. Moreover, it preserves the null-Lagrangian structure. The hypothesis of polyconvexity is adopted. The existence of minimizers is proven for the corresponding minimization problem. The goal is to construct a variational approximation scheme which is discrete in time. This generates a measure-valued solution that dissipates the energy identity. This is shown to converge as the time step tends to zero, provided that the limit solution is smooth.