On a class of boundary value problems involving the \(p\)-biharmonic operator (Q961076)

The authors study the existence of solutions to the following problem: \[ (|u''|^{p-2}u'')'' - (a(t)|u'|^{p-2}u')' + b(t)|u|^{p-2}u \in \overline{\partial}F(t,u), \] \[ \left(\begin{aligned} & -(|u''|^{p-2}u'')'(0) + a(0)|u'(0)|^{p-2}u'(0)\\ & (|u''|^{p-2}u'')'(1) - a(1)|u'(1)|^{p-2}u'(1)\\ & |u''(0)|^{p-2}u''(0)\\ & -|u''(1)|^{p-2}u''(1)\end{aligned} \right) \in \partial j \left(\begin{aligned} & u(0)\\ & u(1)\\ & u'(0)\\ &u'(1) \end{aligned} \right), \] where \(a,b \in C([0,1])\) are given functions, \(p > 1\), \(F: (0,1) \times \mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{R}\) is a Carath\(\acute{e}\)odory type function, \(j: \mathbb{R}^4 \to (-\infty, +\infty]\) is a proper, convex and lower semi-continuous function, \(\overline{\partial}\) denotes the generalized Clarke gradient, and \(\partial\) stands for the subdifferential. Some examples which demonstrate the arising of such problems in the theory of elasticity are presented.