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Alessandro Giacomini

Publications and source records attributed to Alessandro Giacomini.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2026

Nucleation and propagation of brittle fracture as a constrained energy minimization problem

This paper presents a macroscopic, or continuum, theory aimed at describing when, where, and why cracks nucleate and propagate in nominally elastic brittle materials under monotonic, quasi-static, but otherwise arbitrary mechanical loads. Motivated by recent insights, the proposed sharp theory posits that: \emph{cracks nucleate and propagate exclusively in regions where the strength surface of the material is exceeded, with their evolution dictated by the minimization of the sum of the potential --- the elastic energy minus the work done by the externally applied forces --- and surface energies.} While the theory applies to materials with any elasticity (linear or nonlinear) and any material symmetry (isotropic or anisotropic), attention is restricted here to the most basic case of isotropic elastic brittle materials. For demonstration purposes, the theory is confronted with a set of nine tests that span the entire range of well-settled experimental knowledge on fracture nucleation and propagation --- the so-called ``Nine Circles of Elastic Brittle Fracture'' --- on both a hard material (a silicate glass) and a soft material (a synthetic rubber).

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗
arXiv2025

Velocity optimization of self-equilibrated obstacles in a two-dimensional viscous flow

An obstacle is immersed in an externally driven 2D Stokes or Navier-Stokes fluid. We study the self-equilibration conditions for that obstacle under steady state assumptions on the flow. We then seek to optimize the translational and/or angular velocity of the obstacle by varying its shape. To allow general variations, we must consider a very large class of obstacles for which the notion of trace is meaningless. This forces us to revisit the notion of self-equilibration for both Stokes and Navier-Stokes in a measure theoretic environment.

math.AP↗
arXiv2024

Spatial regularity for general yield criteria in dynamic and quasi-static perfect plasticity

This work addresses the question of regularity of solutions to evolutionary (quasi-static and dynamic) perfect plasticity models. Under the assumption that the elasticity set is a compact convex subset of deviatoric matrices, with $C^2$ boundary and positive definite second fundamental form, it is proved that the Cauchy stress admits spatial partial derivatives that are locally square integrable. In the dynamic case, a similar regularity result is established for the velocity as well. In the latter case, one-dimensional counterexamples show that, although solutions are Sobolev in the interior of the domain, singularities may appear at the boundary and the Dirichlet condition may fail to be attained.

math.AP↗
arXiv2024

A shape optimization problem for nematic and cholesteric liquid crystal drops

We generalize the shape optimization problem for the existence of stable equilibrium configurations of nematic and cholesteric liquid crystal drops surrounded by an isotropic solution to include a broader family of admissible domains with inner boundaries, allowing discontinuities in the director field across them. Within this setting, we prove the existence of optimal configurations under a volume constraint and show that the minimization problem is a natural generalization of that posed for regular domains.

math.AP↗
arXiv2023

Minimization of the $k$ -th eigenvalue of the Robin-Laplacian with perimeter constraint

In this paper we address the problem of the minimization of the $k$-th Robin eigenvalue $λ_{k,β}$ with parameter $β>0$ among bounded open Lipschitz sets with prescribed perimeter. The perimeter constraint allows us to naturally generalize the problem to a setting involving more general admissible geometries made up of sets of finite perimeter with inner cracks, along with a suitable generalization of the Robin-Laplacian operator with properties which look very similar to those of the classical setting. Within this extended framework we establish existence of minimizers, and prove that the associated eigenvalue coincides with the infimum of those achieved by regular domains.

math.AP↗
arXiv2023

A free discontinuity approach to optimal profiles in Stokes flows

In this paper we study obstacles immerged in a Stokes flow with Navier boundary conditions. We prove the existence and regularity of an obstacle with minimal drag, among all shapes of prescribed volume and controlled surface area, taking into account that these shapes may naturally develop geometric features of codimension 1. The existence is carried out in the framework of free discontinuity problems and leads to a relaxed solution in the space of special functions of bounded deformation (SBD). In dimension 2, we prove that the solution is classical.

math.AP↗
arXiv2022

Boundary behavior of Robin problems in non-smooth domains

We analyze strict positivity at the boundary for nonnegative solutions of Robin problems in general (non-smooth) domains, e.g. open sets with rectifiable topological boundaries having finite Hausdorff measure. This question was raised by Bass, Burdzy and Chen in 2008 for harmonic functions, in a probabilistic context. We give geometric conditions such that the solutions of Robin problems associated to general elliptic operators of $p$-Laplacian type, with a positive right hand side, are globally or locally bounded away from zero at the boundary. Our method, of variational type, relies on the analysis of an isoperimetric profile of the set and provides quantitative estimates as well.

math.AP↗
arXiv2020

Degenerate free discontinuity problems and spectral inequalities in quantitative form

We introduce a new geometric-analytic functional that we analyse in the context of free discontinuity problems. Its main feature is that the geometric term (the length of the jump set) appears with negative sign. This is motivated by searching quantitative inequalities for best constants of Sobolev-Poincaré inequalities with trace terms in $\mathbb{R}^n$ which correspond to fundamental eigenvalues associated to semilinear problems for the Laplace operator with Robin boundary conditions. Our method is based on the study of this new, degenerate, functional which involves an obstacle problem in interaction with the jump set. Ultimately, this becomes a mixed free discontinuity/free boundary problem occuring above/at the level of the obstacle, respectively.

math.AP↗
arXiv2018

Optimal partitions for Robin Laplacian eigenvalues

We prove the existence of an optimal partition for the multiphase shape optimization problem which consists in minimizing the sum of the first Robin Laplacian eigenvalue of $k$ mutually disjoint {\it open} sets which have a $\mathcal H ^ {d-1}$-countably rectifiable boundary and are contained into a given box $D$ in $R^d$

math.AP↗
arXiv2005

A density result for Sobolev spaces in dimension two, and applications to stability of nonlinear Neumann problems

We prove that if $\Om \subseteq \R^2$ is bounded and $\R^2 \setminus \Om$ satisfies suitable structural assumptions (for example it has a countable number of connected components), then $W^{1,2}(\Om)$ is dense in $W^{1,p}(\Om)$ for every $1\le p<2$. The main application of this density result is the study of stability under boundary variations for nonlinear Neumann problems of the form $$ \begin{cases} -{\rm div} A(x,\nabla u)+B(x,u)=0 & \text{in}\Om, \\ A(x,\nabla u)\cdot ν=0 & \text{on}\partial \Om, \end{cases} $$ where $A:\R^2\times \R^2 \to \R^2$ and $B:\R^2 \times \R \to \R$ are Carathéodory functions which satisfy standard monotonicity and growth conditions of order $p$.

math.AP↗
arXiv2005

A $Γ$-convergence approach to stability of unilateral minimality properties

We prove the stability of a large class of unilateral minimality properties which arise naturally in the theory of crack propagation proposed by Francfort and Marigo in [Revisiting brittle fractures as an energy minimization problem. J. Mech. Phys. Solids, 46 (1998), 1319-1342]. Then we give an application to the quasistatic evolution of cracks in composite materials.

math.AP↗
arXiv2005

Crack initiation in elastic bodies

In this paper we study the crack initiation in a hyper-elastic body governed by a Griffith's type energy. We prove that, during a load process through a time dependent boundary datum of the type $t \to t g(x)$ and in absence of strong singularities (this is the case of homogeneous isotropic materials) the crack initiation is brutal, i.e., a big crack appears after a positive time $t_i>0$. On the contrary, in presence of a point $x$ of strong singularity, a crack will depart from $x$ at the initial time of loading and with zero velocity. We prove these facts (largely expected by the experts of material science) for admissible cracks belonging to the large class of closed one dimensional sets with a finite number of connected components. The main tool we employ to address the problem is a local minimality result for the functional $$ \Es(u,Γ):=\int_\Om f(x,\nabla v) dx+k\hu(Γ), $$ where $Ω\subseteq \R^2$, $k>0$ and $f$ is a suitable Carathéodory function. We prove that if the uncracked configuration $u$ of $\Om$ relative to a boundary displacement $ψ$ has uniformly weak singularities, then configurations $(u_Γ,Γ)$ with $\hu(Γ)$ small enough are such that $\Es(u,\emptyset)<\Es(u_Γ,Γ)$.

math.AP↗
arXiv2004

Discontinuous finite element approximation of quasistatic crack growth in finite elasticity

We propose a time-space discretization of a general notion of quasistatic growth of brittle fractures in elastic bodies proposed in [13] by G. Dal Maso, G.A. Francfort, and R. Toader, which takes into account body forces and surface loads. We employ adaptive triangulations and prove convergence results for the total, elastic and surface energies. In the case in which the elastic energy is strictly convex, we prove also a convergence result for the deformations.

math.AP↗
arXiv2004

Size effects on quasistatic growth of fractures

We perform an analysis of the size effect for quasistatic growth of fractures in linearly isotropic elastic bodies under antiplanar shear. In the framework of the variational model proposed by G.A. Francfort and J.-J. Marigo in [14], we prove that if the size of the body tends to infinity, and even if the surface energy is of cohesive form, under suitable boundary displacements the fracture propagates following the Griffith's functional.

math.AP↗
arXiv2003

Multi-peak solutions for a class of degenerate elliptic equations

By means of a penalization argument due to del Pino and Felmer, we prove the existence of multi-spike solutions for a class of quasilinear elliptic equations under natural growth conditions. Compared with the semilinear case some difficulties arise, mainly concerning the properties of the limit equation. The study of concentration of the solutions requires a somewhat involved analysis in which a Pucci-Serrin type identity plays an important role.

math.AP↗