Nonconvexity and nonsmoothness arise in a large class of engineering applica- tions. In many cases of practical importance the possibilities offered by opti- mization with its algorithms and heuristics can substantially improve the per- formance and the range of applicability of classical computational mechanics algorithms. For a class of problems this approach is the only one that really works. The present book presents in a comprehensive way the application of opti- mization algorithms and heuristics in smooth and nonsmooth mechanics. The necessity of this approach is presented to the...

Nonsmooth energy functions govern phenomena which occur frequently in nature and in all areas of life. They constitute a fascinating subject in mathematics and permit the rational understanding of yet unsolved or partially solved questions in mechanics, engineering and economics.
This is the first book to provide a complete and rigorous presentation of the quasidifferentiability approach to nonconvex, possibly nonsmooth, energy functions, of the derivation and study of the corresponding variational expressions in mechanics, engineering and economics, and of their numerical treatment....