<p>Through several centuries there has been a lively interaction between mathematics and mechanics. On the one side, mechanics has used mathemat ics to formulate the basic laws and to apply them to a host of problems that call for the quantitative prediction of the consequences of some action. On the other side, the needs of mechanics have stimulated the development of mathematical concepts. Differential calculus grew out of the needs of Newtonian dynamics; vector algebra was developed as a means . to describe force systems; vector analysis, to study velocity fields and force fields; and the calcul~s of variations has evolved from the energy principles of mechan ics. In recent times the theory of tensors has attracted the attention of the mechanics people. Its very name indicates its origin in the theory of elasticity. For a long time little use has been made of it in this area, but in the last decade its usefulness in the mechanics of continuous media has been widely recognized. While the undergraduate textbook literature in this country was becoming "vectorized" (lagging almost half a century behind the development in Europe), books dealing with various aspects of continuum mechanics took to tensors like fish to water. Since many authors were not sure whether their readers were sufficiently familiar with tensors~ they either added' a chapter on tensors or wrote a separate book on the subject.</p>

Tensor Analysis and Continuum Mechanics

Science & Math

Wilhelm Flügge

Mathematics

Springer

<p>No mathematical theory can completely describe the complex world around us. Every theory is aimed at a certain class of phenomena, formulates their essential features, and disregards what is of minor importance. The theory meets its limits of applicability where a dis regarded influence becomes important. Thus, rigid-body dynamics describes in many cases the motion of actual bodies with high accu racy, but it fails to produce more than a few general statements in the case of impact, because elastic or anelastic deformation, no matter how local or how small, attains a dominating influence. For a long time mechanics of deformable bodies has been based upon Hooke's law - that is, upon thE" assumption of linear elasticity. It was well known that most engineering materials like metals, con crde, wood, soil, are not linearly elastic or, are so within limits too narrow to cover tne range of pl'actical intcrest. Nevertheless, almost all routine stress analysis is still based on Hooke T s law be cause of its simplicity. In the course of time engineers have become increasingly con scious of the importance of the anelastic behavior of many materials, and mathematical formulations have been attempted and applied to practical problems. Outstanding among them are the theories of ide ally plastic and of viscoelastic materials. While plastic behavior is essentially nonlinear (piecewise linear at best), viscoelasticity, like elasticity, permits a linear theory. This theory of linear visco elasticity is the subject of tbe present book.</p>

Viscoelasticity

Chemistry

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Wilhelm Flügge. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Wilhelm Flügge

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Wilhelm Flügge. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Tensor Analysis and Continuum Mechanics

Viscoelasticity