SPECIAL EVOLUTION MODELS

IN PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS

AND APPLICATIONS

by

Gustavo Perla Menzala

(National Laboratory of Scientific Computation
and Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brasil)
INTRODUCTION:

In this Lecture we describe some results on the following subjects.

(A) Mathematical models of evolution which allow us to find interesting

properties and applications of the so-called “smart materials”.

(B) We analize dynamic elastic deformations of a quasilinear plate model

under thermal effects which are modeled by Cattaneo’s law. Our task
is to obtain an exponential rate of decay of the total energy as time
t → +∞.
CASE (A)

“Smart materials” are usually called Piezoelectric/Piezomagnetic ma-

terials. They have very special properties. For example, they are able
to change mechanical energy into electric energy, magnetic energy or, in
many situations into thermal energy. Conversely, whenever an electric field
acts on the material it creates stress. By applying a mechanical force to a
piezoelectric material (with top and botton electrods) one can measure an
electric voltage between the two electrods. In other words, smart materials
are both sensors and actuators. People can think of them as muscles
and nerves.
 In nature, those materials are from the family of crystals (like quartz),
ceramics (like lead zirconate, barium titanete) and polymers. Crystals
and polymers typically show a weak piezoelectric effect. However Poly-
mers with memory are also very special. Well known applications of
such materials are due to following property: They “remember” their ini-
tial shape they were build. After suitable deformations if we apply some
temperature (heat) to such polymer, he will be able to reconstruct by
himself (almost) its initial shape.
 Among many modern Industrial applications of “Smart materials” are
in aeronautic and aerospace systems, shape memory alloys, biomedical ap-
plications mainly in artificial organs and so forth. Piezoelectricity (literally
means “pressure electricity”) was discover by Pierre and Jacques Curie in
1880. They were able to demonstrate the generation of electric charge in
response to applied pressure or stresses. This is the direct piezoelectric
effect. The converse effect was much later justified using thermodynamic
principles.
Some Applications

In recent years piezoelectric materials were used as sensors and/or ac-

tuators. Those applications run from high frequencies or low frequencies.
In the first case are use crystals and in the second ceramics or polymers.
A quasi electrostatic piezoelectric system

Let Ω be a bounded open set in R3 . Assume Ω is connected and has a

regular boundary ∂Ω. The set Ω is suppose to be made of a piezoelectric
material.
As mentioned before, the modelling of such effects should relate the
~ the
stress and strain tensors (σ(·) and E(u)) as well as the electric field E,
electric displacement vector D, the magnetic field H~ and the magnetic flux
~
density vector B.
 First, we will describe a simpler model called a “quasi electrostatic
piezoelectric system” by negleting H ~ and B.~
The strain tensor is given by
1
E(u) = (∇u + (∇u)T ) in Ω
2
 
∇u1
where u = (u1 , u2 , u3 ) denotes the displacement vector and ∇u = ∇u2 .
 

∇u3
~ is assume to be of the form
The electric field E
~ = −∇V
E in Ω

(where V is called the electric potential).

 The stress tensor σ = σ(u, V ) is given by

~
σ = σ(u, V ) = CE(u) − PE
= CE(u) + P∇V

where C is a (constant) tensor named the stiffness tensor and P named

the piezoelectric tensor.
 Finally, D = (D1 , D2 , D3 ) denotes the electric displacement vector
and is given by

D = D(u, V ) = PE(u) + DE
= PE(u) − D∇V

where D is a second order tensor known as the electric permissibility

(or dielectric tensor).
The mathematical model which relates the coupling of the elasticity
equation, Maxwell equation and a temperature could be in the first case,
by considering the magnetic field to be small (thus being negleted) and
~ = −∇V where V is the electric potential.
E
 The equations which relate the interactions between those tensors and
fields are 
 u − Div σ(u, V ) + α∇θ = 0
 tt


div D(u, V ) = 0 (1)


θ − ∆θ + β div(u ) = 0

t t

with boundary conditions

u = 0, V = 0, θ=0 on ∂Ω × R+ (2)

and initial conditions

u(x, 0) = u0 (x), ut (x, 0) = u1 (x), θ(x, 0) = θ0 (x) in Ω (3)

(α > 0, β > 0).

 Using either semigroup theory or the Galerkin method we obtain a
strong or a mild global solution of problem (1), (2), (3). The model under
consideration has total energy L(t) given by
Z  
1 α
L(t) = |ut |2 + CE(u) : E(u) + D∇V · ∇V + |θ|2 dx
2 Ω β
where
3
X
CE(u) : E(u) = Cijk` Ek` (u)Eij (u)
i,j,k,`=1

and
3
X ∂V ∂V
D∇V · ∇V = dij .
i,j=1
∂xi ∂xj
 Easy to prove that
Z
d α
L(t) = − |∇θ|2 dx ≤ 0 for all t ≥ 0.
dt β Ω

The natural question is: can we find a uniform rate of decay of L(t)
as t → +∞?
However, due to several well known results in the literature we have
almost the same difficulties which appeared in linear thermoelasticity in
dimensions ≥ 2. Important references are C. Dafermos [2], D. Henry et.
al. [3] and G. Lebeau and E. Zuazua [4]. One of the main difficulties is the
geometry of the body Ω. For example if Ω is convex the answer is: L(t)
does not decay uniformely to zero for many times t.
 Concerning model (1), (2), (3) let us describe briefly a partial result we
obtained in G. Perla + J. Sejje in DCDS (2013) [9]:

Given G = [Gij ]3×3 symmetric matrix with entries Gij ∈ L2 (Ω) we consider
the auxiliary eliptic problem

div(D∇V ) = div(P G) in Ω
V = 0 on ∂Ω.

Hence, the solution V depends on G. We write V = f (G). Returning to

problem (1), (2), (3), we choose G = E(u) = [Ek` (u)]3×3 . Consequently
Vj = f (E(uj )).
Next, we assume that the entries of the tensors C = (Cijk` ), D =
(dij ) and P = (eik` ) are constants, with symmetric conditions and C and
D satisfy “elliptic type conditions”. We assume the so-called Dafermos
condition:
If there exist a solution Φ ∈ [H01 (Ω)]3 such that, for some µ ∈ R

Div(σ(Φ, V )) + µΦ = 0 in Ω
div Φ = 0 in Ω.

Then, Φ ≡ 0 in Ω. Here V = f (E(Φ))

 Under the above assumptions we obtained the following result: The
total energy L(t) decays exponentially as t → +∞ if and only if
there exists T > 0 and λ > 0 such that
Z T
||u0 ||2[L2 ]3 + ||u1 ||2[H −1 (Ω)]3 ≤ λ || div ψ||2H −1 (Ω) dt
0

where ψ = (ψ1 , ψ2 , ψ3 ) is given by the solution of the hyperbolic problem


 ψ − Div σ(ψ, f (E(ψ))) = 0 in Ω × (0, T )
 tt


ψ = 0 on ∂Ω × (0, T )


ψ(x, 0) = u (x), ψ (x, 0) = u (x) for all x ∈ Ω.

0 t 1
 The above result can be extended to the case where we include the
~ of the form H
magnetic field H ~ = −∇ψ (also E~ = −∇V )



 ~ H)
utt − Div σ(u, E, ~ + F ∇θ = 0


 ~
div D(u, ~ H)
E, ~ =0
in Ω × R+ (4)


 div ~
B(u, ~
E, ~
H) = 0


θ − ∆θ + Λ : E(u ) = 0

t t

with boundary conditions

u = 0, V = 0, ψ = 0, θ = 0 on ∂Ω × R+ (5)

and initial data

u(x, 0) = u0 (x), ut (x, 0) = u1 (x), θ(x, 0) = θ0 (x) in Ω (6)

 where
3
X
Λ = (λij ), Λ : E(ut ) = Λij Eij (ut )
i,j=1

~ H)
σ(u, E, ~ = CE(u) − P E
~ − RH
~
= CE(u) + P ∇V + R∇ψ
~ = D(u,
D ~ ~ H)
E, ~ = P T E(u) − D∇V − M ∇ψ and
~ = B(u,
B ~ ~ H)
E, ~ = RT E(u) − M ∇V − B∇ψ.

Similar result as in the previous simplify case were obtain in G. Perla

+ J. Sejje (Evolution Equations and Control Theory, Vol. 1, Number 2,
December 2012 [8]).
 The complete model was consider in G. Perla + J. Sejje, JMAA,
(2014) [10] 


utt − Div σ(u, E,~ H,
~ θ) = 0


 ∂ ~ ~ ~ ~
∂t D(u, E, H, θ) = curl H





~
 ∂ B(u,
 ~ H,
E, ~ θ) = − curl E~
∂t
(7)


 ~ ~ ~
div D(u, E, H, θ) = 0





 ~
div B(u, ~ H,
E, ~ θ) = 0


T ∂ S(u, E,

0 ∂t
~ H,
~ θ) + div q(θ) = 0

in Ω × R+ with initial conditions at t = 0

 u(x, 0) = u0 (x), ut (x, 0) = u1 (x), ~
E(x, 0) = E0 (x),
~
H(x, 0) = H0 (x), θ(x, 0) = θ0 (x) in Ω (8)
and (dissipative) boundary conditions

ση + aut + bu = 0, ~ × η = ~0,
E ~ × η = ~0,
H θ=0 on ∂Ω × R+ . (9)

The total energy in this case is given by

Z Z
1  2 T T 1
b|u|2 dΓ

L(t) = |ut | + C∇u : ∇u + (E, H, θ) · ϕ(E, H, θ) dx+
2 Ω 2 ∂Ω
where
   
E DE + M H + pT θ
(E, H, θ)T · ϕ(E, H, θ)T = H  ·  M E + BH + rT θ 
   

θ p · E + r · H + αθ

From the above system (7), (8), (9) it follows

Z Z
d
L(t) = − Q∇θ · ∇θ dx − a|ut |2 dΓ.
dt Ω ∂Ω
 Here we assume that a = a(x) and b = b(x) are real valued continuous
and positive functions on ∂Ω. In (7) σ = CE(u) − P E ~ − RH~ − F θ, D~
and B~ are the electric vector displacement and the magnetic flux density
~ H
vector respectively and are depend linearly on E(u), E, ~ and θ.
Finally, S denotes the entropy and also depends linearly on E(u), E, H
and θ and q(θ) = −Q∇θ where Q is a second order tensor.
Long calculations allowed us to prove the exponential decay of
the total energy L(t) associated with model (7) provided the body Ω
satisfies a “geometric condition” (of star shape type) and 0 < b(x) is
bounded above by a suitable constant.
REFERENCES

[1] K. Ammari and S. Nicaise, Stabilization of a piezoelectric system

Asymptotic Analysis 73 (2011), 125–146.

[2] C. Dafermos, On the existence and the asymptotic stability of solu-

tions to the equations of linear thermoelasticity, Arch. Rational Mech.
Anal. 29 (1968), 241–271.

[3] D. Henry, O. Lopes and Perissinotto, On the essential spectrum of

a semigroup of thermoelasticity, Nonlinear Anal. TMA, 21 (1993),
65–75.
[4] G. Lebeau and E. Zuazua, Decay rates for the three-dimensional linear
system of Thermoelasticity, Arch. Rational Mech. Anal. 148 (1999),
179–231.

[5] J. Dunkin and A. Eringen, On the propagation of waves in an elec-

tromagnetic elastic solid, Int. Engreg. Science 1 (1963), 461–495.

[6] R.D. Mindlin, Equations of high frequency vibrations of thermopiezo-

electric crystal plates, Int. J. Solid Structures, 10 (2974), 625–637.

[7] R.C. Smith, Smart material systems, model development, Frontiers in

Applied Mathematics, SIAM (2005).
 [8] G. Perla and J. Sejje Suarez, On the exponential stabilization of a
thermo piezoelectric system, Evolution Equations and Control Theory
(AIMS) 1 (2) (2012), 315–336.

[9] G. Perla and J. Sejje Suarez, A Thermo Piezoelectric model: Expo-

nential decay of the Total energy, DCDS, Vol 33, Number 11& 12
(2013), DOI 10.3934/dcds.2013.33.XX.

[10] G. Perla and J. Sejje Suarez, Uniform stabilization of a Thermo piezo-

electric piezomagnetic model, J. Math. Anal. Appl. 409 (2014), 56–
73.
CASE (B)

For a long time it is well known in the literature of the importance of

looking back to classical models and study cases when relevant parameters
approach to suitable limits. As relevant examples, we can mention:
In the study of waves for the Atmosphere and ocean phenomena,
A. Majda [4] described how the stratified Quasi-Geostropic equations are
a singular limit of the Rotating Boussinesq Equations as the Rossby
and Froude parameters approach to zero.
 Years later considering the full von Kármán model for plates was
prove that Timoshenko’s plate equation is also a singular limit of the
above von Kármán model (G. Perla and E. Zuazua [5]). Further results
for models in Viscoelasticity were obtained by Fushan Li [7]. For
shallow shells, a singular limit of the so-called Marguerre-Vlasov system
was found by G. Perla and E. Zuazua [6].
 In [6] was shown: For any ε > 0, let

where zε denotes the transversal displacement and (uε , vε ) is the in-plane

ε→0
displacement. We deduce in [6] that as ε → 0 then zε * z and z satisfies
the following model

ztt + ∆2 z − µ∆ztt = D(t)[∆z − (K1 + K2 )] on M × (0, +∞)

where M is the “middle surface” of the shell, K1 and K2 denote the prin-
cipal curvatures of M at each point and
Z
D(t) = c0 [|∇z|2 + 2z(K1 + K2 )] dM
M
γ 1
with µ > 0, c0 > 0. Actually c0 = (1−γ)Measure(M ) where 0 < γ < 2 is
Poisson’s ratio. It seems natural to consider the above limit model with
temperature effects. In what follows we will describe a recent joint work
with C. Buriol [2] which improves our earlier paper [1] on a similar model
for plates. We prefer in this case to use Cattaneo’s model for heat
conduction instead of Fourier’s law. Thus, we will have thermal signals
propagating with finite speed.
 The coupled system of hyperbolic type to the consider here is

z + ∆2 z − µ∆z − D(t)[∆z − (K + K )] + δ∆θ = 0
tt tt 1 2 t
(1)
τ θ + θ − λ∆θ − δ∆z = 0
tt t t

on M ×(0, +∞), µ is the coefficient associated with the “rotational inertia”

term – ∆ztt , δ > 0 is a coupling constant and 0 < τ is the “relaxation term”.
We complement the above system with boundary conditions
z = 0, ∆z = 0, θ=0 on ∂M × (0, +∞) (2)
and initial conditions
z(·, 0) = z0 (·), zt (·, 0) = z1 (·), θ(·, 0) = θ0 (·), θt (·, 0) = θ1 (·) on M.
(3)
 In this Lecture we will consider that the “middle surface” M is a
shallow shell which in particular tell us that the principal curvatures
K1 (·) and K2 (·) are “small”. Our main concern is to prove the exponential
decay of the total energy as t → +∞. Let Y = H 2 (M ) ∩ H01 (M ) and
W = Y × H01 (M ) × H01 (M ) × L2 (M ) and the operator A : D(A) ⊆ W 7→ W
with domain

D(A) = {(z, v, θ, w)T ∈ W such that w, ∆z belong

to H01 (M ) and θ, v ∈ H 2 (M )}.

 Using Semigroup theory we can prove that A is the infinitesimal gener-
ator of the C0 -semigroup on W . Also, the non-linearity
 T
−1
N (U ) = 0, −(I − µ∆) [D(t)(∆z − {K1 + K2 })], 0, 0

is a locally Lipschitz non-linearity where U = (z, v, θ, w)T .

The above discussion allows us to verify the following result: Let U0 =
(z0 , z1 , θ0 , θ1 )T ∈ D(A) and assume K1 , K2 belong to L2 (M ). Then, there
exists a unique function U (t) = (z(t), zt (t), θ(t), θt (t)) such that
U ∈ C([0, +∞); D(A)) ∩ C 1 ((0, +∞), W ) and U (t) satisfies problem (1),
(2), (3).
The stabilization result:
Next, we consider the total energy E(t) associated with our model (1),
(2), (3). Here
Z
1  2 1
zt + (∆z)2 + µ|∇zt |2 + λ|∇θ|2 + τ θt2 dM + D2 (t) .

E(t) =
2 M 4c0
In order to obtain the stabilization result we will construct convenient
Lyapunov functionals as follows:
Let Z
J(t) = [zzt + µ∇z · ∇zt + τ θθt ]dM
M
and Z Z
F (t) = τ zt θt dM + λ ∇θ · ∇z dM
M M
 Next, we estimate dJ dF
dt and dt using the model and our assumptions in
order to define, for each ε > 0
εδ
Gε (t) = J(t) + εF (t)
4c1
δ2 1
where c1 = µ + 2λ + λ1 (λ1 denotes the first eigenvalue of −∆ on M ).

Finally, consider for each ε > 0

Hε (t) = E(t) + Gε (t)

to deduce
1 3
a) E(t) ≤ Hε (t) ≤ E(t)
2 2
and
d
b) Hε (t) ≤ −εγ̃E(t)
dt
for any t ≥ 0 and ε > 0 sufficiently small. The positive constant γ̃ depends
on the parameters of the model and is independent of ε.
Using a) and b) we easily deduce that the total energy E(t) satisfies
2
E(t) ≤ 3E(0)e− 3 εγ̃t

for all t ≥ 0 and 0 < ε < γ̃.

Final Remarks
1) In order to get good estimates for dtd J(t) we needed to assume that
K1 and K2 are small enough (say in the L2 (M ) norm). This is valid in
our case because we are considering a shallow shell. The question remains
if the final result still holds for other situations. We suspect that may be
true.
2) Other possible couplings could be consider. For example instead of
(1) we may study



 ztt + ∆2 z − µ∆ztt − D(t)[∆z − (K1 + K2 )] + δ∆θ = 0

θt + div ~q − δ∆zt = 0



τ ~q + ~q + k∇θ = 0
t

where ~q is the heat flux vector. However, technically could be much longer
the discussion (due to the character of the nonlinearity).
REFERENCES

[1] C. Buriol, G. Perla Menzala, Uniform stabilization of a quasi-

linear plate in hyperblic thermoelasticity, Math. Meth. Appl. Sci-
ences 39 (8) (2016), 2146–2158.

[2] C. Buriol, G. Perla Menzala, On Uniform Stabilization of a quasi-

linear model in hyperbolic thermoelasticity, Journal of Abstract Dif-
ferential Equations and Applications (JADEA) vol 8, Number 1, pp.
1–23 (2017).

[3] M. do Carmo, Riemannian Geometry, Birkhauser, (1993).

[4] A. Majda, Introduction to Partial Differential Equations and waves
for the Atmosphere and Ocean, Courant Institute Lecture Notes 9
(2003).

[5] G. Perla Menzala, E. Zuazua, Timoshenko’s plate equation as a

singular limit of the dynamical von Kármán system, J. Math. Pure
Appl. 79 (1), (2000), 73–94.

[6] G. Perla Menzala, E. Zuazua, A singular limit of the dynamic

Malguerre-Vlasov nonlinear equations of shallow shells, Optimization
Software Inc. Publications, New York, Los Angeles, USA, (2001).
[7] Fushan Li, Limit behaviour of the solution to nonlinear viscoelastic
Malguerre-von Kármán shallow shell system, J. Differential Equations
249 (2010), 1241–1257.

[8] M. Taylor, Partial Differential Equations, Basic Theory, Texts in Ap-

plied Mathematics, Vol 23, Springer-Verlag, New York, Inc. (1996).
THANKS VERY MUCH
FOR YOUR ATTENTION