• Embed Doc
  • Copy Link
  • Readcast
  • Collections
  • CommentGo Back
 
ELASTODYNAMICS IN A CONTINUUMOFINFINITE EXTENTION
BJØRN URSIN KARLSEN
To Elizabeth 
Abstract.
Already in the Nineteenth century
William Thomson (Lord Kelvin)(1824–1907)
pointed out the resemblance between elastodynamic and electro-dynamic equations [2, page 279-280]. In this paper I will follow up some of histhoughts in order to see exactly how far this resemblance stretches.I will start by recapitulating some topics from the Linear Theory of Elas-ticity in an elastic continuum of infinite extension – which I will call a spatialcontinuum – and show that they can be reformulated to terms that exactlymatch those applied in Electrodynamics. With the additional assumption thatthere may be free moving sinks and sources in the spatial continuum, I willshow that they will behave exactly like electric charges do. Finally I will showthat if disturbance energy can be confined in small areas of the spatial con-tinuum, the energy packets will behave in the same way as matter except forgravitation, which goes beyond the scope of this paper.
1.
The Linear Theory of Elasticity
The
Linear Theory of Elasticity 
is a discipline in its own right, and this sectionis only meant as an introduction to the topic. The theory was probably originallyintended to describe ordinary elastic bodies consisting of particles bound togetherby molecular forces, but it is through the centuries refined to be a theory that candescribe deformations in a true
elastic continuum 
. Here, I will focus on the part of the theory that describes deformations of an elastic continuum of 
infinite extension 
or nearly so. In its undeformed state it is supposed to be
homogeneous
and
isotropic
if anything else isn’t stated explicitly. For a more thorough investigation I referto [1]. Only a couple of the equations, namely (1.7), (1.16), and (1.18) are used inlater developments so if those equations are familiar, this section may be skipped.1.1.
Displacement fields.
The space
B
under consideration, also called a Kelvinspace, is all filled up with an elastic continuum which in its undeformed state ishomogeneous and isotropic with mass density
ρ
s
that obeys the deformation lawsof The Linear Theory of Elasticity. Notice that I already now put the index s on themass density in order to distinguish it from the charge density
ρ
of electrodynamics.
Date
: 20:08:08.Thanks to a friend who wants to be anonymous, because he has supplied me with importantbooks, and given me the term ”The spatial continuum”.
1
 
2 BJØRN URSIN KARLSEN
The displacement in this space is described by the
displacement field 
; its value
u
(
x
) at a
point 
x
is the infinitesimal
displacement 
of 
x
. The symmetric part
=
12
u
+
u
T 
,
(1.1)
ij
=
12
(
u
i,j
+
u
j,i
)
,
of the
displacement gradient 
,
u
, is the infinitesimal
strain field 
, and the aboveequation, relating
to
u
, is called the
strain-displacement relation 
. In this contextthe (local)
space
is to be understood as the whole of the deformed area, or at leastan area through which border no significant forces due to the inside deformationare conveyed. In addition
u
has got to be continuous and sufficiently smooth.We calldiv
u
= tr
,
the
dilatation 
. The infinitesimal
volume change
δv
(
P 
) of a part
P 
of space due toa continuous displacement of the field
u
is defined by
δv
(
P 
) =
 
P 
u
·
n
da,
where
n
is the unit vector normal to the surface element
da
of the surface of 
P 
, andwe say that
u
is
solenoidal 
if 
δv
(
P 
) = 0 for every
P 
. By the divergence theoremwe have
δv
(
P 
) =
 
P 
div
u
dv
=
 
P 
tr
dv.
Thus
u
is solenoidal if and only if tr
≡
0
,
or equivalently, div
u
≡
0
,
all over space. Then there exist a vector field
Ψ
such that
u
= curl
Ψ
.
A deformation field is said to be
irrotational 
if it satisfies the conditioncurl
u
≡
0
,
all over the field. Then there exist a scalar field
φ
in space such that
u
=
φ.
Let
u
be a vector field where [
u
]
∞
= 0, then
Helmholtz’s theorem 
states thatthere exist a smooth scalar field
φ
and a vector field
Ψ
on
B
such that
u
=
φ
+ curl
Ψ
,
where div
Ψ
= 0
,
(see e.g. http://mathworld.wolfram.com/HelmholtzsTheorem.html). In plain wordsthis theorem states that an arbitrary deformation field,
u
, can be decomposed intotwo fields; an irrotational field
u
1
=
φ
and an solenoidal field
u
2
= curl
Ψ
, suchthat
u
=
u
1
+
u
2
,
where
u
1
= grad
φ,
curl
u
1
= 0
u
2
= curl
Ψ
,
div
u
2
= 0
.
(1.2)which implies that the superposition of 
u
1
and
u
2
gives a complete description of any local deformation field in the spatial continuum.
 
3
1.2.
System of forces.
In an elastic continuum there may be a
system of forces
acting on a part, S, of space basically consisting of a
surface force
s
n
and a
body  force
b
. By the same right as
u
can be divided in an irrotational and an solenoidalcomponent, so can also the body force
b
, making
b
=
b
1
+
b
2
with
b
1
and
b
2
belonging to the irrotational and solenoidal field respectively.
b
=
b
1
+
b
2
b
1
= grad
ϕ
b
2
= curl
A
,
div
A
= 0
.
(1.3)Since
ϕ
initially can be set to any level, it might as well be associated with apossible uniform pressure in the continuum, so an initial uniform pressure will notalter the equations in the least.We assume that there all over space is a strictly positive function
ρ
s
called the
density 
such that the mass of any part
P 
of space is given by
 
P 
ρ
s
dv
The
motion 
of the body is described by the (infinitesimal)
displacement field 
u
(
x
,t
) such that
˙u
=
∂ 
u
∂t
and
¨u
=
∂ 
2
u
∂ 
2
t
are the
velocity 
and
acceleration 
respectively. The
linear momentum 
l
of 
P 
is
l
(
P 
) =
 
P 
ρ
s
˙u
dv,
and the body counterforce
b
caused by acceleration is
b
(
P 
) =
−
˙l
(
P 
) =
−
 
P 
ρ
s
¨u
dv.
In addition to this initial body force, I will keep the possibility open that theremight be another
hypothetical body force
b
caused by the external world, just inorder to see how such a force would change the spatial continuum. The total force
f 
(
P 
) on a part
P 
of space is the total surface force from the
stress vector 
s
n
exertedacross the surface
∂P 
plus the total body force exerted on
P 
by the external world
f 
(
P 
) =
 
∂P 
s
n
da
+
 
P 
b
dv.
The
Cauchy-Poisson theorem 
[1, page 44] states that if 
u
is an admissible motionand
f 
is a system of forces, then [
u
,f 
] is a dynamic process if and only if thefollowing two conditions are satisfied:(1) there exists a symmetric tensor field
σ
called the
stress field 
, such that foreach unit vector
n
,
σ
n
=
σ
n
;(2)
u
,
σ
,
and
b
satisfy the
equation of motion 
div
σ
+
b
=
ρ
s
¨u
.
(1.4)This theorem is one of the major results of continuum mechanics.
of 00

Leave a Comment

You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...
You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...