Structured Deformations of Continua: Theory and Applications

The scope of this contribution is to present an overview of the theory of structured deformations of continua, together with some applications. Structured deformations aim at being a unified theory in which elastic and plastic behaviours, as well as fractures and defects can be described in a single setting. Since its introduction in the scientific community of rational mechanicists [10], the theory has been put in the framework of variational calculus [8], thus allowing for solution of problems via energy minimization. Some background, three problems and a discussion on future directions are presented