This volume is a thorough introduction to contemporary research in elasticity, and may be used as a working textbook at the graduate level for courses in pure or applied mathematics or in continuum mechanics. It provides a thorough description (with emphasis on the nonlinear aspects) of the two competing mathematical models of three-dimensional elasticity, together with a mathematical analysis of these models. The book is as self-contained as possible.

This volume is a thorough introduction to contemporary research in elasticity, and may be used as a working textbook at the graduate level for courses in pure or applied mathematics or in continuum mechanics. It provides a thorough description (with emphasis on the nonlinear aspects) of the two competing mathematical models of three-dimensional elasticity, together with a mathematical analysis of these models. The book is as self-contained as possible.

The refined theory of beams, which takes into account both rotary inertia and shear deformation, was developed jointly by Timoshenko and Ehrenfest in the years 1911-1912. In over a century since the theory was first articulated, tens of thousands of studies have been performed utilizing this theory in various contexts. Likewise, the generalization of the Timoshenko-Ehrenfest beam theory to plates was given by Uflyand and Mindlin in the years 1948-1951.The importance of these theories stems from the fact that beams and plates are indispensable, and are often occurring elements of every civil, mechanical, ocean, and aerospace structure.Despite a long history and many papers, there is not a single book that summarizes these two celebrated theories. This book is dedicated to closing the existing gap within the literature. It also deals extensively with several controversial topics, namely those of priority, the so-called 'second spectrum' shear coefficient, and other issues, and shows vividly that the above beam and plate theories are unnecessarily overcomplicated.In the spirit of Einstein's dictum, 'Everything should be made as simple as possible but not simpler,' this book works to clarify both the Timoshenko-Ehrenfest beam and Uflyand-Mindlin plate theories, and seeks to articulate everything in the simplest possible language, including their numerous applications.This book is addressed to graduate students, practicing engineers, researchers in their early career, and active scientists who may want to have a different look at the above theories, as well as readers at all levels of their academic or scientific career who want to know the history of the subject. The Timoshenko-Ehrenfest Beam and Uflyand-Mindlin Plate Theories are the key reference works in the study of stocky beams and thick plates that should be given their due and remain important for generations to come, since classical Bernoulli-Euler beam and Kirchhoff-Love theories are applicable for slender beams and thin plates, respectively.Related Link(s)

Although there are several books in print dealing with elasticity, many focus on specialized topics such as mathematical foundations, anisotropic materials, two-dimensional problems, thermoelasticity, non-linear theory, etc. As such they are not appropriate candidates for a general textbook. This book provides a concise and organized presentation and development of general theory of elasticity. This text is an excellent book teaching guide. - Contains exercises for student engagement as well as the integration and use of MATLAB Software - Provides development of common solution methodologies and a systematic review of analytical solutions useful in applications of

This book presents the theory of plates and shells on the basis of the three-dimensional parent theory. The authors explore the thinness of the structure to represent the mechanics of the actual thin three-dimensional body under consideration by a more tractable two-dimensional theory associated with an interior surface. In this way, the relatively complex three-dimensional continuum mechanics of the thin body is replaced by a far more tractable two-dimensional theory. To ensure that the resulting model is predictive, it is necessary to compensate for this ‘dimension reduction’ by assigning additional kinematical and dynamical descriptors to the surface whose deformations are modelled by the simpler two-dimensional theory. The authors avoid the various ad hoc assumptions made in the historical development of the subject, most notably the classical Kirchhoff–Love hypothesis requiring that material lines initially normal to the shell surface remain so after deformation. Instead, such conditions, when appropriate, are here derived rather than postulated.

Extensive numerical methods for computing design sensitivity are included in the text for practical application and software development. The numerical method allows integration of CAD-FEA-DSA software tools, so that design optimization can be carried out using CAD geometric models instead of FEA models. This capability allows integration of CAD-CAE-CAM so that optimized designs can be manufactured effectively.

In recent years there has been a considerable renewal of interest in the clas sical problems of the calculus of variations, both from the point of view of mathematics and of applications. Some of the most powerful tools for proving existence of minima for such problems are known as direct methods. They are often the only available ones, particularly for vectorial problems. It is the aim of this book to present them. These methods were introduced by Tonelli, following earlier work of Hilbert and Lebesgue. Although there are excellent books on calculus of variations and on direct methods, there are recent important developments which cannot be found in these books; in particular, those dealing with vector valued functions and relaxation of non convex problems. These two last ones are important in appli cations to nonlinear elasticity, optimal design . . . . In these fields the variational methods are particularly effective. Part of the mathematical developments and of the renewal of interest in these methods finds its motivations in nonlinear elasticity. Moreover, one of the recent important contributions to nonlinear analysis has been the study of the behaviour of nonlinear functionals un der various types of convergence, particularly the weak convergence. Two well studied theories have now been developed, namely f-convergence and compen sated compactness. They both include as a particular case the direct methods of the calculus of variations, but they are also, both, inspired and have as main examples these direct methods.

The Boundary Element Method (BEM) has been established as a powerful numerical tool for the analysis of continua in recent years. The method is based on an attempt to transfer the governing differential equations into integral equations over the boundary. Thus, the discretization scheme or the intro duction of any approximations must be done over the boundary. This book presents a BEM for two-dimensional elastic, thermo -elastic and body-force contact problems. The formulation is implemented for the general case of contact with various fric tional conditions. The analysis is limited to linear elasto statics and small strain theory. Following a review of the basic nature of contact problems, the analytical basis of the direct formulation of the BEM method is described. The numerical implementation employs three-noded isoparametric line elements for the representa tion of the boundary of the bodies in contact. Opposite nodal points in equi-Iength element-pairs are defined on the two surfaces in the area which is expected to come into contact under an increasing load. The use of appropriate contact IV conditions enables the integral equations for the two bodies to be coupled together. To find the proper contact dimensions and the contact load a combined incremental and iterative approach is utilised. With this approach, the loads are applied progressively, and the sliding and adhering portion of the contact region is established for each load increment using an iterative procedure. A coulomb type of friction law is assumed.