Integral representation for energies in linear elasticity with surface discontinuities

In this paper we prove an integral representation formula for a general class of energies defined on the space of generalized special functions of bounded deformation ({\mathrm{GSBD}^{p}}) in arbitrary space dimensions. Functionals of this type naturally arise in the modeling of linear elastic solids with surface discontinuities including phenomena as fracture, damage, surface tension between different elastic phases, or material voids. Our approach is based on the global method for relaxation devised in [G. Bouchitté, I. Fonseca and L. Mascarenhas, A global method for relaxation, Arch. Ration. Mech. Anal. 145 1998, 1, 51–98] and a recent Korn-type inequality in {\mathrm{GSBD}^{p}}, cf. [F. Cagnetti, A. Chambolle and L. Scardia, Korn and Poincaré–Korn inequalities for functions with a small jump set, preprint 2020]. Our general strategy also allows to generalize integral representation results in {\mathrm{SBD}^{p}}, obtained in dimension two [S. Conti, M. Focardi and F. Iurlano, Integral representation for functionals defined on \mathrm{SBD}^{p} in dimension two, Arch. Ration. Mech. Anal. 223 2017, 3, 1337–1374], to higher dimensions, and to revisit results in the framework of generalized special functions of bounded variation ({\mathrm{GSBV}^{p}}).

On the relaxation of integral functionals depending on the symmetrized gradient

We prove results on the relaxation and weak* lower semicontinuity of integral functionals of the form $${\cal F}[u]: = \int_\Omega f \left( {\displaystyle{1 \over 2}\left( {\nabla u(x) + \nabla u{(x)}^T} \right)} \right) \,{\rm d}x,\quad u:\Omega \subset {\mathbb R}^d\to {\mathbb R}^d,$$ over the space BD(Ω) of functions of bounded deformation or over the Temam–Strang space $${\rm U}(\Omega ): = \left\{ {u\in {\rm BD}(\Omega ):\;\,{\rm div}\,u\in {\rm L}^2(\Omega )} \right\},$$ depending on the growth and shape of the integrand f. Such functionals are interesting, for example, in the study of Hencky plasticity and related models.

Homogenization of cohesive fracture in masonry structures

We derive a homogenized mechanical model of a masonry-type structure constituted by a periodic assemblage of blocks with interposed mortar joints. The energy functionals in the model under investigation consist of (i) a linear elastic contribution within the blocks, (ii) a Barenblatt’s cohesive contribution at contact surfaces between blocks, and (iii) a suitable unilateral condition on the strain across contact surfaces, and are governed by a small parameter representing the typical ratio between the length of the blocks and the dimension of the structure. Using the terminology of [Formula: see text]-convergence and within the functional setting supplied by the functions of bounded deformation, we analyze the asymptotic behavior of such energy functionals when the parameter tends to zero, and derive a simple homogenization formula for the limit energy. Furthermore, we highlight the main mathematical and mechanical properties of the homogenized energy, including its non-standard growth conditions under tension or compression. The key point in the limit process is the definition of macroscopic tensile and compressive stresses, which are determined by the unilateral conditions on contact surfaces and the geometry of the blocks.

Approximation of fracture energies with p-growth via piecewise affine finite elements

The modeling of fracture problems within geometrically linear elasticity is often based on the space of generalized functions of bounded deformation GSBDp(Ω), p ∈ (1, ∞), their treatment is however hindered by the very low regularity of those functions and by the lack of appropriate density results. We construct here an approximation of GSBDp functions, for p ∈ (1, ∞), with functions which are Lipschitz continuous away from a jump set which is a finite union of closed subsets of C1 hypersurfaces. The strains of the approximating functions converge strongly in Lp to the strain of the target, and the area of their jump sets converge to the area of the target. The key idea is to use piecewise affine functions on a suitable grid, which is obtained via the Freudenthal partition of a cubic grid.

A Korn-type inequality in SBD for functions with small jump sets

We present a Korn-type inequality in a planar setting for special functions of bounded deformation. We prove that for each function in [Formula: see text] with a sufficiently small jump set the distance of the function and its derivative from an infinitesimal rigid motion can be controlled in terms of the linearized elastic strain outside of a small exceptional set of finite perimeter. Particularly, the result shows that each function in [Formula: see text] has bounded variation away from an arbitrarily small part of the domain.

Which special functions of bounded deformation have bounded variation?

Functions of bounded deformation (BD) arise naturally in the study of fracture and damage in a geometrically linear context. They are related to functions of bounded variation (BV), but are less well understood. We discuss here the relation to BV under additional regularity assumptions, which may require the regular part of the strain to have higher integrability or the jump set to have finite area or the Cantor part to vanish. On the positive side, we prove that BD functions that are piecewise affine on a Caccioppoli partition are in GSBV, and we prove that SBDp functions are approximately continuous -almost everywhere away from the jump set. On the negative side, we construct a function that is BD but not in BV and has distributional strain consisting only of a jump part, and one that has a distributional strain consisting of only a Cantor part.

Lower semicontinuity of a class of integral functionals on the space of functions of bounded deformation

We study the lower semicontinuity of some free discontinuity functionals with linear growth defined on the space of functions with bounded deformation. The volume term is convex and depends only on the Euclidean norm of the symmetrized gradient. We introduce a suitable class of surface terms, which make the functional lower semicontinuous with respect to ${L^{1}}$ convergence.