Nonlinear Problems of Elasticity

Within the past few decades, there has been an accelerating development of methods for studying nonlinear equations. Nonlinear analysis offers exciting prospects for certain specific areas of nonlinear problems with continuum mechanics. The objective of this book is to carry out such studies for problems in nonlinear elasticity. This book is directed toward scientists, engineers, and mathematicians who wish to see careful treatments of uncompromised problems. The author's aim is to retain the orientation toward fascinating problems that characterizes the best engineering texts on structural stability while retaining the precision of modern continuum mechanics and employing powerful methods of nonlinear analysis. The author's approach is to lay down a general theory for each kind of elastic body, carefully formulate specific problems, introduce the pertinent mathematical methods, and then conduct rigorous analyses of the problems.

This second edition is an enlarged, completely updated, and extensively revised version of the authoritative first edition. It is devoted to the detailed study of illuminating specific problems of nonlinear elasticity, directed toward the scientist, engineer, and mathematician who wish to see careful treatments of precisely formulated problems. Special emphasis is placed on the role of nonlinear material response. The mathematical tools from nonlinear analysis are given self-contained presentations where they are needed. This book begins with chapters on (geometrically exact theories of) strings, rods, and shells, and on the applications of bifurcation theory and the calculus of variations to problems for these bodies. The book continues with chapters on tensors, three-dimensional continuum mechanics, three-dimensional elasticity, large-strain plasticity, general theories of rods and shells, and dynamical problems. Each chapter contains a wealth of interesting, challenging, and tractable exercises.  Reviews of the first edition: ``A scholarly work, it is uncompromising in its approach to model formulation, while achieving striking generality in the analysis of particular problems. It will undoubtedly become a standard research reference in elasticity but will be appreciated also by teachers of both solid mechanics and applied analysis for its clear derivation of equations and wealth of examples.'' --- J. M. Ball, (Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society), 1996. ``It is destined to become a standard reference in the field which belongs on the bookshelf of anyone working on the application of mathematics to continuum mechanics. For graduate students, it provides a fascinating introduction to an active field of mathematical research.'' --- M. Renardy, (SIAM Review), 1995. ``The monograph is a masterpiece for writing a modern theoretical treatise on a field of natural sciences. It is highly recommended to all scientists, engineers and mathematicians interested in a careful treatment of uncompromised nonlinear problems of elasticity, and it is a `must' for applied mathematicians working on such problems.'' --- L. v Wolfersdorf, (Zeitschrift fur Angewandte Mathematik und Mechanik), 1995.