Nonlinear Viscoelastic Solids

This pioneering book presents the basic theory, experimental methods, experimental results and solution of boundary value problems in a readable, useful way to designers as well as research workers and students. The mathematical background required has been kept to a minimum and supplemented by explanations where it has been necessary to introduce specialized mathematics. Also, appendices have been included to provide sufficient background in Laplace transforms and in step functions. Chapters 1 and 2 contain an introduction and historic review of creep. As an aid to the reader a background on stress, strain, and stress analysis is provided in Chapters 3 and 4, an introduction to linear viscoelasticity is found in Chapter 5 and linear viscoelastic stress analysis in Chapter 6. In the next six chapters the multiple integral representation of nonlinear creep and relaxation, and simplifications to single integral forms and incompressibility, are examined at length. After a consideration of other representations, general relations are derived, then expanded to components of stress or strain for special cases. Both constant stress (or strain) and variable states are described, together with methods of determining material constants. Conversion from creep to relaxation, effects of temperature and stress analysis problems in nonlinear materials are also treated here. Finally, Chapter 13 discusses experimental methods for creep and stress relaxation under combined stress. This chapter considers especially those experimental problems which must be solved properly when reliable experimental results of high precision are required. Six appendices present the necessary mathematical background, conversion tables, and more rigorous derivations than employed in the text. An extensive updated bibliography completes the book.

Viscoelastic Solids covers the mathematical theory of viscoelasticity and physical insights, causal mechanisms, and practical applications. The book: presents a development of the theory, addressing both transient and dynamic aspects as well as emphasizing linear viscoelasticity synthesizes the structure of the theory with the aim of developing physical insight illustrates the methods for the solution of stress analysis problems in viscoelastic objects explores experimental methods for the characterization of viscoelastic materials describes the phenomenology of viscoelasticity in a variety of materials, including polymers, metals, high damping alloys, rock, piezoelectric materials, cellular solids, dense composite materials, and biological materials analyzes high damping and extremely low damping provides the theory of viscoelastic composite materials, including examples of various types of structure and the relationships between structure and mechanical properties contains examples on the use of viscoelastic materials in preventing and alleviating human suffering Viscoelastic Solids also demonstrates the use of viscoelasticity for diverse applications, such as earplugs, gaskets, computer disks, satellite stability, medical diagnosis, injury prevention, vibration abatement, tire performance, sports, spacecraft explosions, and music.

This book contains a wealth of useful information on current research on viscoelasticity. By covering a broad variety of rheology, non-Newtonian fluid mechanics and viscoelasticity-related topics, this book is addressed to a wide spectrum of academic and applied researchers and scientists but it could also prove useful to industry specialists. The subject areas include, theory, simulations, biological materials and food products among others.

Pioneering book presents basic theory, experimental methods and results, solution of boundary value problems. Topics include creep, stress and strain, deformation analyses, multiple integral representation of nonlinear creep and relaxation, much more. Appendices. Bibliography.

This graduate text on viscoelastic materials addresses design applications as diverse as earplugs, computer disks and medical diagnostics.

The subject of stability problems for viscoelastic solids and elements of structures, with which this book is concerned, has been the focus of attention in the past three decades. This has been due to the wide inculcation of viscoelastic materials, especially polymers and plastics, in industry. Up-to-date studies in viscoelasticity are published partially in purely mathematical journals, partially in merely applied ones, and as a consequence, they remain unknown to many interested specialists. Stability in Viscoelasticity fills the gap between engineers and mathematicians and converges theoretical and applied directions of investigations. All chapters contain extensive bibliographies of both purely mathematical and engineering works on stability problems. The bibliography includes a number of works in Russian which are practically inaccessible to the Western reader.

This book provides a systematic and self-consistent introduction to the nonlinear continuum mechanics of solids, from the main axioms to comprehensive aspects of the theory. The objective is to expose the most intriguing aspects of elasticity and viscoelasticity with finite strains in such a way as to ensure mathematical correctness, on the one hand, and to demonstrate a wide spectrum of physical phenomena typical only of nonlinear mechanics, on the other.A novel aspect of the book is that it contains a number of examples illustrating surprising behaviour in materials with finite strains, as well as comparisons between theoretical predictions and experimental data for rubber-like polymers and elastomers.The book aims to fill a gap between mathematicians specializing in nonlinear continuum mechanics, and physicists and engineers who apply the methods of solid mechanics to a wide range of problems in civil and mechanical engineering, materials science, and polymer physics. The book has been developed from a graduate course in applied mathematics which the author has given for a number of years.