Presents an introduction to the complementary notions of physical forces and material or configurational forces. The required elements of continuum mechanics, deformation theory and differential geometry are also covered.

This book concentrates on the mathematical theory of plasticity and fracture, and presents it in a thermomechanical framework. It follows the macroscopic, phenomenological approach, which proposes equations abstracted from generally accepted experimental facts, studies the adequacy of the consequences drawn from these equations to those facts, and then provides useful tools for designers and engineers. Many examples of plasticity and fracture are presented, and each chapter concludes with problems for students.

This book concentrates on the mathematical theory of plasticity and fracture, and presents it in a thermomechanical framework. It follows the macroscopic, phenomenological approach, which proposes equations abstracted from generally accepted experimental facts, studies the adequacy of the consequences drawn from these equations to those facts, and then provides useful tools for designers and engineers. Many examples of plasticity and fracture are presented, and each chapter concludes with problems for students.

The mechanics of electromagnetic materials and structures has been developing rapidly with extensive applications in, e. g., electronics industry, nuclear engineering, and smart materials and structures. Researchers in this interdisciplinary field are with diverse background and motivation. The Symposium on the Mechanics of Electromagnetic Materials and Structures of the Fourth International Conference on Nonlinear Mechanics in Shanghai, China in August 13-16, 2002 provided an opportunity for an intimate gathering of researchers and exchange of ideas. This volume contains papers based on most...

The book presents macroscopic irreversible thermodynamics in its realm and splendor by appealing to the notion of internal variables of state. This applies to both fluids and solids with or without microstructures of mechanical or electromagnetic origin. This unmatched richness of essentially nonlinear behaviours is the result of the use of modern mathematical techniques such as convex analysis in a clear-cut framework which allows one to put under the umbrella of irreversible thermodynamics behaviours which until now were commonly thought of as either not easily covered, or even impossible...

These lecture notes cover numerous elements of configurational mechanics, including mathematical foundations, linear and nonlinear elasticity and continuum mechanics, coupled fields, fracture mechanics, as well as strength of materials.

Contributed by world-renowned specialists on the occasion of Paul Germain's 80th birthday, this unique book reflects the foundational works and the intellectual influence of this author. It presents the realm of modern thermomechanics with its extraordinary wealth of applications to the behaviour of materials, whether solid or fluid. The thirty-one contributions follow an easygoing autobiographical sketch by Paul Germain, and highlight the power and richness of a methodological approach to the phenomenology of many materials. This approach combines harmoniously thermodynamics and continuum...

The notion dealt with in this volume of proceedings is often traced back to the late 19th-century writings of a rather obscure scientist, C. V. Burton. A probable reason for this is that the painstaking de ciphering of this author's paper in the Philosophical Magazine (Vol. 33, pp. 191-204, 1891) seems to reveal a notion that was introduced in math ematical form much later, that of local structural rearrangement. This notion obviously takes place on the material manifold of modern con tinuum mechanics. It is more or less clear that seemingly different phe nomena - phase transition, local...