ME 212A Continuum Mechanics

Elements of Cartesian tensors. Configurations and motions of a body. Kinematics—study of deformations, rotations and stretches, polar decomposition. Lagrangian and Eulerian strain velocity and spin tensor fields. Irrotational motions, rigid motions. Kinetics—balance laws. Linear and angular momentum, force, traction stress. Cauchy’s theorem, properties of Cauchy’s stress. Equations of motion, equilibrium equations. Power theorem, nominal (Piola- Kirchoff) stress. Thermodynamics of bodies. Internal energy, heat flux, heat supply. Laws of thermodynamics, notions of entropy, absolute temperature. Entropy inequality (Clausius- Duhem). Examples of special classes of constitutive laws for materials without memory. Objective rates, corotational, convected rates. Principles of materials frame indifference. Examples: the isotropic Navier-Stokes fluid, the isotropic thermoelastic solid. Basics of finite differences, finite elements, boundary integral methods and their applications to continuum mechanics problems illustrating a variety of classes of constitutive laws.

Credits

3