Signorini-Type Problems over Non-Convex Sets for Composite Bodies Contacting by Sharp Edges of Rigid Inclusions

A new type of non-classical 2D contact problem formulated over non-convex admissible sets is proposed. Specifically, we suppose that a composite body in its undeformed state touches a wedge-shaped rigid obstacle at a single contact point. Composite bodies under investigation consist of an elastic matrix and a rigid inclusion. In this case, the displacements on the set, corresponding to a rigid inclusion, have a predetermined structure that describes possible parallel shifts and rotations of the inclusion. The rigid inclusion is located on the external boundary and has the form of a wedge. The presence of the rigid inclusion imposes a new type of non-penetration condition for certain geometrical configurations of the obstacle and the body near the contact point. The sharp-shaped edges of the obstacle effect such sets of admissible displacements that may be non-convex. For the case of a thin rigid inclusion, which is described by a curve and a volume (bulk) rigid inclusion specified in a subdomain, the energy minimization problems are formulated. The solvability of the corresponding boundary value problems is proved, based on analysis of auxiliary minimization problems formulated over convex sets. Qualitative properties of the auxiliary variational problems are revealed; in particular, we have found their equivalent differential formulations. As the most important result of this study, we provide justification for a new type of mathematical model for 2D contact problems for reinforced composite bodies.

Circumcentering approximate reflections for solving the convex feasibility problem

The circumcentered-reflection method (CRM) has been applied for solving convex feasibility problems. CRM iterates by computing a circumcenter upon a composition of reflections with respect to convex sets. Since reflections are based on exact projections, their computation might be costly. In this regard, we introduce the circumcentered approximate-reflection method (CARM), whose reflections rely on outer-approximate projections. The appeal of CARM is that, in rather general situations, the approximate projections we employ are available under low computational cost. We derive convergence of CARM and linear convergence under an error bound condition. We also present successful theoretical and numerical comparisons of CARM to the original CRM, to the classical method of alternating projections (MAP), and to a correspondent outer-approximate version of MAP, referred to as MAAP. Along with our results and numerical experiments, we present a couple of illustrative examples.

Support and separation properties of convex sets in finite dimension

This is a survey on support and separation properties of convex sets in the n-dimensional Euclidean space. It contains a detailed account of existing results, given either chronologically or in related groups, and exhibits them in a uniform way, including terminology and notation. We first discuss classical Minkowski’s theorems on support and separation of convex bodies, and next describe various generalizations of these results to the case of arbitrary convex sets, which concern bounding and asymptotic hyperplanes, and various types of separation by hyperplanes, slabs, and complementary convex sets.