The Proceedings of the 1st Conference on New Trends in Fluid and Solid Models provide an overview of results and new models in fluid dynamics and, in general, in continuum mechanics. The contributions refer in particular to models in continuum mechanics, phase transitions, qualitative analysis for ODEs or PDEs models, Stability in fluids and solids, wave propagation, discontinuity and shock waves, and numerical simulations.

This book contains the papers presented at the conference on “Mathematical Models and Methods for Smart Materials”, held in Italy in 2001. The papers are divided into four parts:”Methods in Materials Science” deals mainly with mathematical techniques for the investigation of physical systems, such as liquid crystals, materials with internal variables, amorphous materials, and thermoelastic materials. Also, techniques are exhibited for the analysis of stability and controllability of classical models of continuum mechanics and of dynamical systems.”Modelling of Smart Materials” is devoted to models of superfluids, superconductors, materials with memory, nonlinear elastic solids, and damaged materials. In the elaboration of the models, thermodynamic aspects play a central role in the characterization of the constitutive properties.”Well-Posedness in Materials with Memory” deals with existence, uniqueness and stability for the solution of problems, most often expressed by integrodifferential equations, which involve materials with fading memory. Also, attention is given to exponential decay in viscoelasticity, inverse problems in heat conduction with memory, and automatic control for parabolic equations.”Analytic Problems in Phase Transitions” discusses nonlinear partial differential equations associated with phase transitions, and hysteresis, possibly involving fading memory effects. Particular applications are developed for the phase-field model with memory, the Stefan problem with a Cattaneo-type equation, the hysteresis in thermo-visco-plasticity, and the solid-solid phase transition.

The book may be viewed as an introduction to time-harmonic waves in dissipative bodies, notably viscoelastic solids and fluids. The inhomogeneity of the waves, which is due to the fact that planes of constant phase are not parallel to planes of constant amplitude, is shown to be strictly related to the dissipativity of the medium. A preliminary analysis is performed on the propagation of inhomogeneous waves in unbounded media and of reflection and refraction at plane interfaces. Then emphasis is given to those features that are of significance for applications. In essence, they regard surface waves, scattering by (curved) obstacles, wave propagation in layered heterogeneous media, and ray methods. The pertinent mathematical techniques are discussed so as to make the book reasonably self-contained.

The Proceedings of the 1st Conference on New Trends in Fluid and Solid Models provide an overview of results and new models in fluid dynamics and, in general, in continuum mechanics. The contributions refer in particular to models in continuum mechanics, phase transitions, qualitative analysis for ODEs or PDEs models, Stability in fluids and solids, wave propagation, discontinuity and shock waves, and numerical simulations.

This book contains the papers presented at the conference on “Mathematical Models and Methods for Smart Materials”, held in Italy in 2001. The papers are divided into four parts:”Methods in Materials Science” deals mainly with mathematical techniques for the investigation of physical systems, such as liquid crystals, materials with internal variables, amorphous materials, and thermoelastic materials. Also, techniques are exhibited for the analysis of stability and controllability of classical models of continuum mechanics and of dynamical systems.”Modelling of Smart Materials” is devoted to models of superfluids, superconductors, materials with memory, nonlinear elastic solids, and damaged materials. In the elaboration of the models, thermodynamic aspects play a central role in the characterization of the constitutive properties.”Well-Posedness in Materials with Memory” deals with existence, uniqueness and stability for the solution of problems, most often expressed by integrodifferential equations, which involve materials with fading memory. Also, attention is given to exponential decay in viscoelasticity, inverse problems in heat conduction with memory, and automatic control for parabolic equations.”Analytic Problems in Phase Transitions” discusses nonlinear partial differential equations associated with phase transitions, and hysteresis, possibly involving fading memory effects. Particular applications are developed for the phase-field model with memory, the Stefan problem with a Cattaneo-type equation, the hysteresis in thermo-visco-plasticity, and the solid-solid phase transition.

The book may be viewed as an introduction to time-harmonic waves in dissipative bodies, notably viscoelastic solids and fluids. The inhomogeneity of the waves, which is due to the fact that planes of constant phase are not parallel to planes of constant amplitude, is shown to be strictly related to the dissipativity of the medium. A preliminary analysis is performed on the propagation of inhomogeneous waves in unbounded media and of reflection and refraction at plane interfaces. Then emphasis is given to those features that are of significance for applications. In essence, they regard surface waves, scattering by (curved) obstacles, wave propagation in layered heterogeneous media, and ray methods. The pertinent mathematical techniques are discussed so as to make the book reasonably self-contained.