This book examines the exciting interface between differential geometry and continuum mechanics, now recognised as being of increasing technological significance. Topics discussed include isometric embeddings in differential geometry and the relation with microstructure in nonlinear elasticity, the use of manifolds in the description of microstructure in continuum mechanics, experimental measurement of microstructure, defects, dislocations, surface energies, and nematic liquid crystals. Compensated compactness in partial differential equations is also treated. The volume is intended for specialists and non-specialists in pure and applied geometry, continuum mechanics, theoretical physics, materials and engineering sciences, and partial differential equations. It will also be of interest to postdoctoral scientists and advanced postgraduate research students. These proceedings include revised written versions of the majority of papers presented by leading experts at the ICMS Edinburgh Workshop on Differential Geometry and Continuum Mechanics held in June 2013. All papers have been peer reviewed.

Modern computational techniques, such as the Finite Element Method, have, since their development several decades ago, successfully exploited continuum theories for numerous applications in science and technology. Although standard continuum methods based upon the Cauchy-Boltzmann continuum are still of great importance and are widely used, it increasingly appears that material properties stemming from microstructural phenomena have to be considered. This is particularly true for inhomogeneous load and deformation states, where lower-scale size effects begin to affect the macroscopic material response; something standard continuum theories fail to account for. Following this idea, it is evident that standard continuum mechanics has to be augmented to capture lower-scale structural and compositional phenomena, and to make this information accessible to macroscopic numerical simulations.

In their 1909 publication Théorie des corps déformables, Eugène and François Cosserat made a historic contribution to materials science by establishing the fundamental principles of the mechanics of generalized continua. The chapters collected in this volume showcase the many areas of continuum mechanics that grew out of the foundational work of the Cosserat brothers. The included contributions provide a detailed survey of the most recent theoretical developments in the field of generalized continuum mechanics and can serve as a useful reference for graduate students and researchers in mechanical engineering, materials science, applied physics and applied mathematics.

Defects, dislocations and the general theory.- Approaches to generalized continua.- Generalized continuum modelling of crystal plasticity.- Introduction to discrete dislocation dynamics. The book contains four lectures on generalized continua and dislocation theory, reflecting the treatment of the subject at different scales. G. Maugin provides a continuum formulation of defects at the heart of which lies the notion of the material configuration and the material driving forces of in-homogeneities such as dislocations, disclinations, point defects, cracks, phase-transition fronts and shock waves. C. Sansour and S. Skatulla start with a compact treatment of linear transformation groups with subsequent excursion into the continuum theory of generalized continua. After a critical assessment a unified framework of the same is presented. The next contribution by S. Forest gives an account on generalized crystal plasticity. Finally, H. Zbib provides an account of dislocation dynamics and illustrates its fundamental importance at the smallest scale. In three contributions extensive computational results of many examples are presented.

The purpose of this symposium is to bring together scientists working on continuum theories of discrete mechanical and thermodynamical systems in the realm of mathematics, theoretical and applied mechanics, physics, material science and engineering. It aims to join together the divergent languages, questions and methods developed in the respective disciplines and to stimulate broad interdisciplinary exchange of ideas and results. The main topics, discussed in the lectures, concern thermodynamics, transport theory, statistical mechanics; continuum mechanics of complex fluids and deformable solids with microstructure; continuum theory of living structures; defect dynamics, synergetics, solitons, coherent structures; dislocations and plasticity; fundamentals of fracture mechanics.

This book presents research advances in the field of Continuous Media with Microstructure and considers the three complementary pillars of mechanical sciences: theory, research and computational simulation. It focuses on the following problems: thermodynamic and mathematical modeling of materials with extensions of classical constitutive laws, single and multicomponent media including modern multifunctional materials, wave propagation, multiscale and multiphysics processes, phase transformations, and porous, granular and composite materials. The book presents the proceedings of the 2nd Conference on Continuous Media with Microstructure, which was held in 2015 in Łagów, Poland, in memory of Prof. Krzysztof Wilmański.

Exploring recent developments in continuum mechanics, Configurational Forces: Thermomechanics, Physics, Mathematics, and Numerics presents the general framework for configurational forces. It also covers a range of applications in engineering and condensed matter physics. The author presents the fundamentals of accepted standard continuum mechanics, before introducing Eshelby material stress, field theory, variational formulations, Noether’s theorem, and the resulting conservation laws. In the chapter on complex continua, he compares the classical perspective of B.D. Coleman and W. Noll with the viewpoint linked to abstract field theory. He then describes the important notion of local structural rearrangement and its relationship to Eshelby stress. After looking at the relevance of Eshelby stress in the thermodynamic description of singular interfaces, the text focuses on fracture problems, microstructured media, systems with mass exchanges, and electromagnetic deformable media. The concluding chapters discuss the exploitation of the canonical conservation law of momentum in nonlinear wave propagation, the application of canonical-momentum conservation law and material force in numerical schemes, and similarities of fluid mechanics and aerodynamics. Written by a long-time researcher in mechanical engineering, this book provides a detailed treatment of the theory of configurational forces—one of the latest and most fruitful advances in macroscopic field theories. Through many applications, it shows the depth and efficiency of this theory.

This book comprises papers that were presented at the Symposium on Configurational Mechanics, during the 5th EUROMECH Soil Mechanics Conference in Thessaloniki in August 2003. Configurational (or material) mechanics -in contrast to Newtonian mechanics in Euclidean space- concerns any sort of change or "motion" in the material configuration. This framework provides a novel and unifying view on otherwise diverse disciplines like fracture mechanics, phase transitions, plasticity and dislocation theory. In addition, configurational mechanics can be used in computations because it provides a fruitful interpretation of the field equations in the discretized space. This volume contains eleven contributions from specialists from around Europe Articles concern both theoretical and computational mechanics, electroplasticity, magnetoelasticity, elastoplasticity as well as granular, multiphase and micropolar media.

The new concept of metamaterial is increasingly attracting the interest of physicists and mechanical engineers. Such materials are obtained by suitably assembling multiple individual elements but usually arranged in (quasi-)periodic substructures in order to show exotic global mechanical properties. Indeed, the particular shape, geometry, size, orientation and arrangement of their constituting elements can affect, the propagation of waves of light or sound in a manner not observed in natural materials, creating material properties which may give rise to unexpected engineering applications. Particularly promising in the design and description of metamaterials are those micro-structures which present high contrasts in their mechanical properties: these micro-structures, once homogenized, may produce generalized continuum media, for example, second gradient or micromorphic. Many scientific challenges related to the application of generalized continuum theories to the characterization and conception of high-performance metamaterials can be identified. In this book we identify and discuss four main potential fields of applications of generalized continuum theories, namely, mechanical behavior of fibrous composite reinforcements, wave propagation in metamaterials, mechanical behavior of concrete and mechanically driven remodeling of bone in presence of bio-resorbable materials. For each field, we underline how the use of a generalized continuum theory can be of help for describing how the presence of microstructure can affect the global mechanical behavior of the considered metamaterials. - Covers four main fields of the application of continuum theories - Learn how to apply generalised continuum theory to describe the effects of microstructure on the mechanical behavior of materials - Decipher the material properties which aid your engineering applications

This is a compendium of reviewed articles presented at the 11th EUROMECH-MECAMAT conference entitled, "Mechancis of microstructured solids: cellular materials, fibre reinforced solids and soft tissues." It provides all the latest information in the field.