SearcharxivSearch

arXiv subjects

Danilo Percivale

Publications and source records attributed to Danilo Percivale.

13 recordsLinked to original sources

On the weighted inertia-energy approach to forced wave equations

We show convergence of minimizers of weighted inertia-energy functionals to solutions of initial value problems for a class of nonlinear wave equations. The result is given for the nonhomogeneous case under a natural growth assumption on the forcing term.

math.AP

Newton's second law as limit of variational problems

We show that the solution of the Cauchy problem for the classical ode $m \mathbf y''=\mathbf f$ can be obtained as limit of minimizers of exponentially weighted convex variational integrals. This complements the known results about weighted inertia-energy approach to Lagrangian mechanics and hyperbolic equations.

math.AP

Asymptotic behavior of constrained local minimizers in finite elasticity

We provide an approximation result for the pure traction problem of linearized elasticity in terms of local minimizers of finite elasticity, under the constraint of vanishing average curl for admissible deformation maps. When suitable rotations are included in the constraint, the limit is shown to be the linear elastic equilibrium associated to rotated loads.

math.AP

Elastic-brittle reinforcement of flexural structures

This note provides a variational description of the mechanical effects of flexural stiffening of a 2D plate glued to an elastic-brittle or an elastic-plastic reinforcement. The reinforcement is assumed to be linear elastic outside possible free plastic yield lines or free crack. Explicit Euler equations and a compliance identity are shown for the reinforcement of a 1D beam.

math.OC

Sharp conditions for the linearization of finite elasticity

We consider the topic of linearization of finite elasticity for pure traction problems. We characterize the variational limit for the approximating sequence of rescaled nonlinear elastic energies. We show that the limiting minimal value can be strictly lower than the minimal value of the standard linear elastic energy if a strict compatibility condition for external loads does not hold. The results are provided for both the compressible and the incompressible case.

math.AP

Euler's optimal profile problem

We study an old variational problem formulated by Euler as Proposition 53 of his `Scientia Navalis' by means of the direct method of the calculus of variations. Precisely, through relaxation arguments, we prove the existence of minimizers. We fully investigate the analytical structure of the minimizers in dependence of the geometric parameters and we identify the ranges of uniqueness and non-uniqueness.

math.OC

The gap in Pure Traction Problems between Linear Elasticity and Variational Limit of Finite Elasticity

A limit elastic energy for pure traction problem is derived from re-scaled nonlinear energy of an hyperelastic material body subject to an equilibrated force field. We show that the strains of minimizing sequences associated to re-scaled non linear energies weakly converge, up to subsequences, to the strains of minimizers of a limit energy, provided an additional compatibility condition is fulfilled by the force field. The limit energy is different from classical energy of linear elasticity; nevertheless the compatibility condition entails the coincidence of related minima and minimizers. A strong violation of this condition provides a limit energy which is unbounded from below, while a mild violation may produce a limit energy with infinitely many extra minimizers which are not minimizers of standard linear elastic energy and whose strains are not uniformly bounded. A relevant consequence of this analysis is that a rigorous validation of linear elasticity fails for compressive force fields that do not fulfil such compatibility condition.

math.AP

A new variational approach to linearization of traction problems in elasticity

A new energy functional for pure traction problems in elasticity has been deduced in [23] as the variational limit of nonlinear elastic energy functional for a material body subject to an equilibrated force field: a sort of Gamma limit with respect to the weak convergence of strains when a suitable small parameter tends to zero. This functional exhibits a gap that makes it different from the classical linear elasticity functional. Nevertheless a suitable compatibility condition on the force field ensures coincidence of related minima and minimizers. Here we show some relevant properties of the new functional and prove stronger convergence of minimizing sequences for suitable choices of nonlinear elastic energies.

math.OC

The minimal resistance problem in a class of non convex bodies

We characterize the solution to the Newton minimal resistance problem in a class of radial q-concave profiles. We also give the corresponding result for one-dimensional profiles. Moreover, we provide a numerical optimization algorithm for the general nonradial case.

math.OC

Variational Problems for Foppl-von Karman plates

Some variational problems for a Foppl-von Karman plate subject to general equilibrated loads are studied. The existence of global minimizers is proved under the assumption that the out-of-plane displacement fulfils homogeneous Dirichlet condition on the whole boundary while the in-plane displacement fulfils nonhomogeneous Neumann condition. If the Dirichlet condition is prescribed only on a subset of the boundary, then the energy may be unbounded from below over the set of admissible configurations, as shown by several explicit conterexamples: in these cases the analysis of critical points is addressed through an asymptotic development of the energy functional in a neighborhood of the flat configuration. By a $Γ$-convergence approach we show that critical points of the Foppl-von Karman energy can be strongly approximated by uniform Palais-Smale sequences of suitable functionals: this property leads to identify relevant features for critical points of approximating functionals, e.g. buckled configurations of the plate. Eventually we perform further analysis as the plate thickness tends to 0, by assuming that the plate is prestressed and the energy functional depends only on the transverse displacement around the given prestressed state: by this approach, first we identify suitable exponents of plate thickness for load scaling, then we show explicit asymptotic oscillating minimizers as a mechanism to relax compressive states in an annular plate.

math.OC