THE FORMULATION OF THEORIES IN GENERALIZED CONTINUUM MECHANICS AND THEIR PHYSICAL SIGNIFICANCE.
Abstract
The nature of the passage from a particle or a structured model to a continuum is discussed. In the first case the model consists of particles, each of which consists of a number of mass-points. It is seen that the continuum theory for such a system may depend in form on the manner in which the deformation of the system of particles is described. Doubt is cast on the value of continuum theories in which the significance of the various tensors or vectors describing the deformation is not explicitly given. Another model in which a composite material consists of blocks of material obey the laws of ordinary continuum theory is also discussed. The main implication of this discussion is to raise questions regarding the interpretation of continuum theories in which stress depends on higher order spatial derivatives of the displacement than the first. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1968
- Accession Number
- AD0682984
Entities
People
- Ronald S. Rivlin
Organizations
- Lehigh University