Continuum mechanics

Continuum mechanics is a branch of mechanics that deals with the analysis of the kinematics and the
mechanical behavior of materials modeled as a continuous mass rather than as discrete particles. The
French mathematician Augustin-Louis Cauchy was the first to formulate such models in the 19th century.
Research in the area continues today.

Explanation

Modeling an object as a continuum assumes that the substance of the object completely fills the space it
occupies. Modeling objects in this way ignores the fact that matter is made of atoms, and so is not
continuous; however, on length scales much greater than that of inter-atomic distances, such models are
highly accurate. Fundamental physical laws such as the conservation of mass, the conservation of
momentum, and the conservation of energy may be applied to such models to derive differential
equations describing the behavior of such objects, and some information about the particular material
studied is added through constitutive relations.

Continuum mechanics deals with physical properties of solids and fluids which are independent of any
particular coordinate system in which they are observed. These physical properties are then represented
by tensors, which are mathematical objects that have the required property of being independent of
coordinate system. These tensors can be expressed in coordinate systems for computational
convenience.

Concept of a continuum

Materials, such as solids, liquids and gases, are composed of molecules separated by space. On a
microscopic scale, materials have cracks and discontinuities. However, certain physical phenomena can
be modeled assuming the materials exist as a continuum, meaning the matter in the body is
continuously distributed and fills the entire region of space it occupies. A continuum is a body that can
be continually sub-divided into infinitesimal elements with properties being those of the bulk material.

The validity of the continuum assumption may be verified by a theoretical analysis, in which either some
clear periodicity is identified or statistical homogeneity and ergodicity of the microstructure exists. More
specifically, the continuum hypothesis/assumption hinges on the concepts of a representative
elementary volume and separation of scales based on the HillMandel condition. This condition provides
a link between an experimentalist's and a theoretician's viewpoint on constitutive equations (linear and
nonlinear elastic/inelastic or coupled fields) as well as a way of spatial and statistical averaging of the
microstructure.[1]

When the separation of scales does not hold, or when one wants to establish a continuum of a finer
resolution than that of the representative volume element (RVE) size, one employs a statistical volume
element (SVE), which, in turn, leads to random continuum fields. The latter then provide a
micromechanics basis for stochastic finite elements (SFE). The levels of SVE and RVE link continuum
mechanics to statistical mechanics. The RVE may be assessed only in a limited way via experimental
testing: when the constitutive response becomes spatially homogeneous.

Specifically for fluids, the Knudsen number is used to assess to what extent the approximation of
continuity can be made.

Solid mechanics is the branch of continuum mechanics that studies the behavior of solid materials,
especially their motion and deformation under the action of forces, temperature changes, phase
changes, and other external or internal agents.

Solid mechanics is fundamental for civil, aerospace, nuclear, and mechanical engineering, for geology,
and for many branches of physics such as materials science.[1] It has specific applications in many other
areas, such as understanding the anatomy of living beings, and the design of dental prostheses and
surgical implants. One of the most common practical applications of solid mechanics is the Euler-
Bernoulli beam equation. Solid mechanics extensively uses tensors to describe stresses, strains, and the
relationship between them.

Strain rate-Strain rate is the change in strain (deformation) of a material with respect to time.

The strain rate at some point within the material measures the rate at which the distances of adjacent
parcels of the material change with time in the neighborhood of that point. It comprises both the rate at
which the material is expanding or shrinking (expansion rate), and also the rate at which it is being
deformed by progressive shearing without changing its volume (shear rate). It is zero if these distances
do not change, as happens when all particles in some region are moving with the same velocity (same
speed and direction) and/or rotating with the same angular velocity, as if that part of the medium were a
rigid body.

The strain rate is a concept of materials science and continuum mechanics, that plays an essential role in
the physics of fluids and deformable solids. In an isotropic Newtonian fluid, in particular, the viscous
stress is a linear function of the rate of strain, defined by two coefficients, one relating to the expansion
rate (the bulk viscosity coefficient) and one relating to the shear rate (the "ordinary" viscosity
coefficient).

Newtonian fluid-In continuum mechanics, a Newtonian fluid is a fluid in which the viscous stresses
arising from its flow, at every point, are linearly[1] proportional to the local strain ratethe rate of
change of its deformation over time.[2][3][4] That is equivalent to saying that those forces are
proportional to the rates of change of the fluid's velocity vector as one moves away from the point in
question in various directions.

Response models-A material has a rest shape and its shape departs away from the rest shape due to
stress. The amount of departure from rest shape is called deformation, the proportion of deformation to
original size is called strain. If the applied stress is sufficiently low (or the imposed strain is small
enough), almost all solid materials behave in such a way that the strain is directly proportional to the
stress; the coefficient of the proportion is called the modulus of elasticity. This region of deformation is
known as the linearly elastic region.

It is most common for analysts in solid mechanics to use linear material models, due to ease of
computation. However, real materials often exhibit non-linear behavior. As new materials are used and
old ones are pushed to their limits, non-linear material models are becoming more common.

There are four basic models that describe how a solid responds to an applied stress:

Elastically When an applied stress is removed, the material returns to its undeformed state. Linearly
elastic materials, those that deform proportionally to the applied load, can be described by the linear
elasticity equations such as Hooke's law.

Viscoelastically These are materials that behave elastically, but also have damping: when the stress is
applied and removed, work has to be done against the damping effects and is converted in heat within
the material resulting in a hysteresis loop in the stressstrain curve. This implies that the material
response has time-dependence.

Plastically Materials that behave elastically generally do so when the applied stress is less than a yield
value. When the stress is greater than the yield stress, the material behaves plastically and does not
return to its previous state. That is, deformation that occurs after yield is permanent.

Thermoelastically - There is coupling of mechanical with thermal responses. In general, thermoelasticity

is concerned with elastic solids under conditions that are neither isothermal nor adiabatic. The simplest
theory involves the Fourier's law of heat conduction, as opposed to advanced theories with physically
more realistic models.

Applied mechanics (also engineering mechanics) is a branch of the physical sciences and the practical
application of mechanics. Applied mechanics describes the response of bodies (solids and fluids) or
systems of bodies to external forces. Some examples of mechanical systems include the flow of a liquid
under pressure, the fracture of a solid from an applied force, or the vibration of an ear in response to
sound. A practitioner of the discipline is known as a mechanician.

Applied mechanics describes the behavior of a body, in either a beginning state of rest or of motion,
subjected to the action of forces.[1] Applied mechanics, bridges the gap between physical theory and its
application to technology. It is used in many fields of engineering, especially mechanical engineering and
civil engineering. In this context, it is commonly referred to as Engineering Mechanics. Much of modern
engineering mechanics is based on Isaac Newton's laws of motion while the modern practice of their
application can be traced back to Stephen Timoshenko, who is said to be the father of modern
engineering mechanics.
Within the theoretical sciences, applied mechanics is useful in formulating new ideas and theories,
discovering and interpreting phenomena, and developing experimental and computational tools. In the
application of the natural sciences, mechanics was said to be complemented by thermodynamics, the
study of heat and more generally energy, and electromechanics, the study of electricity and magnetism.
[2]