A thermodynamically consistent model of magneto-elastic materials under diffusion at large strains and its analysis

The theory of elastic magnets is formulated under possible diffusion and heat flow governed by Fick's and Fourier's laws in the deformed (Eulerian) configuration, respectively. The concepts of nonlocal nonsimple materials and viscous Cahn-Hilliard equations are used. The formulation of the problem uses Lagrangian (reference) configuration while the transport processes are pulled back. Except the static problem, the demagnetizing energy is ignored and only local non-selfpenetration is considered. The analysis as far as existence of weak solutions of the (thermo)dynamical problem is performed by a careful regularization and approximation by a Galerkin method, suggesting also a numerical strategy. Either ignoring or combining particular aspects, the model has numerous applications as ferro-to-paramagnetic transformation in elastic ferromagnets, diffusion of solvents in polymers possibly accompanied by magnetic effects (magnetic gels), or metal-hydride phase transformation in some intermetalics under diffusion of hydrogen accompanied possibly by magnetic effects (and in particular ferro-to-antiferromagnetic phase transformation), all in the full thermodynamical context under large strains

Thermodynamics and analysis of rate-independent adhesive contact at small strains

We address a model for adhesive unilateral frictionless Signorini-type contact between bodies of heat-conductive viscoelastic material, in the linear Kelvin-Voigt rheology, undergoing thermal expansion. The flow-rule for debonding the adhesion is considered rate-independent and unidirectional, and a thermodynamically consistent model is derived and analysed as far as the existence of a weak solution is concerned

Thermomechanics of hydrogen storage in metallic hydrides: modeling and analysis

A thermodynamically consistent mathematical model for hydrogen adsorption in metal hydrides is proposed. Beside hydrogen diffusion, the model accounts for phase transformation accompanied by hysteresis, swelling, temperature and heat transfer, strain, and stress. We prove existence of solutions of the ensuing system of partial differential equations by a carefully-designed, semi-implicit approximation scheme. A generalization for a drift-diffusion of multi-component ionized "gas" is outlined, too

A simple and efficient BEM implementation of quasistatic linear visco-elasticity

A simple, yet efficient procedure to solve quasistatic problems of special linear visco-elastic solids at small strains with equal rheological response in all tensorial components, utilizing boundary element method (BEM), is introduced. This procedure is based on the implicit discretisation in time (the so-called Rothe method) combined with a simple "algebraic" transformation of variables, leading to a numerically stable procedure (proved explicitly by discrete energy estimates), which can be easily implemented in a BEM code to solve initial-boundary value visco-elastic problems by using the Kelvin elastostatic fundamental solution only. It is worth mentioning that no inverse Laplace transform is required here. The formulation is straightforward for both 2D and 3D problems involving unilateral frictionless contact. Although the focus is to the simplest Kelvin-Voigt rheology, a generalization to Maxwell, Boltzmann, Jeffreys, and Burgers rheologies is proposed, discussed, and implemented in the BEM code too. A few 2D and 3D initial-boundary value problems, one of them with unilateral frictionless contact, are solved numerically