In their 1909 publication Théorie des corps déformables, Eugène and François Cosserat made a historic contribution to materials science by establishing the fundamental principles of the mechanics of generalized continua. The chapters collected in this volume showcase the many areas of continuum mechanics that grew out of the foundational work of the Cosserat brothers. The included contributions provide a detailed survey of the most recent theoretical developments in the field of generalized continuum mechanics and can serve as a useful reference for graduate students and researchers in mechanical engineering, materials science, applied physics and applied mathematics.

Defects, dislocations and the general theory.- Approaches to generalized continua.- Generalized continuum modelling of crystal plasticity.- Introduction to discrete dislocation dynamics. The book contains four lectures on generalized continua and dislocation theory, reflecting the treatment of the subject at different scales. G. Maugin provides a continuum formulation of defects at the heart of which lies the notion of the material configuration and the material driving forces of in-homogeneities such as dislocations, disclinations, point defects, cracks, phase-transition fronts and shock waves. C. Sansour and S. Skatulla start with a compact treatment of linear transformation groups with subsequent excursion into the continuum theory of generalized continua. After a critical assessment a unified framework of the same is presented. The next contribution by S. Forest gives an account on generalized crystal plasticity. Finally, H. Zbib provides an account of dislocation dynamics and illustrates its fundamental importance at the smallest scale. In three contributions extensive computational results of many examples are presented.

This collection on „Mechanics of Generalized Continua - from Micromechanical Basics to Engineering Applications“ brings together leading scientists in this field from France, Russian Federation, and Germany. The attention in this publication is be focussed on the most recent research items, i.e., - new models, - application of well-known models to new problems, - micro-macro aspects, - computational effort, - possibilities to identify the constitutive equations, and - old problems with incorrect or non-satisfying solutions based on the classical continua assumptions.

On the roots of continuum mechanics in differential geometry -- a review.- Cosserat media.- Cosserat-type shells.- Cosserat-type rods.- Micromorphic media.- Electromagnetism and generalized continua.- Computational methods for generalized continua. The need of generalized continua models is coming from practice. Complex material behavior sometimes cannot be presented by the classical Cauchy continua. At present the attention of the scientists in this field is focused on the most recent research items • new models, • application of well-known models to new problems, • micro-macro aspects, • computational effort, and • possibilities to identify the constitutive equations The new research directions are discussed in this volume - from the point of view of modeling and simulation, identification, and numerical methods.

This volume is concerned with the basic problems of the theory of thermoelasticity for three models of continuous bodies: materials with voids, micropolar solids and nonsimple bodies. Beginning with the basic laws of thermodynamics, the theory of thermoelastic materials with voids is treated. Two subsequent chapters cover the analysis of the linear theory of micropolar thermoelastic bodies. The book concludes with a study of nonsimple thermoelastic materials, which are characterised by the inclusion of higher gradients of displacement in the basic postulates. Relevant examples and exercises which illustrate the theory are given throughout the text. The book should be of interest to mathematicians and specialists working in the fields of elasticity, thermoelasticity, civil engineering and geophysics.

This volume presents a collection of contributions on advanced approaches of continuum mechanics, which were written to celebrate the 60th birthday of Prof. Holm Altenbach. The contributions are on topics related to the theoretical foundations for the analysis of rods, shells and three-dimensional solids, formulation of constitutive models for advanced materials, as well as development of new approaches to the modeling of damage and fractures.

This dictionary offers clear and reliable explanations of over 100 keywords covering the entire field of non-classical continuum mechanics and generalized mechanics, including the theory of elasticity, heat conduction, thermodynamic and electromagnetic continua, as well as applied mathematics. Every entry includes the historical background and the underlying theory, basic equations and typical applications. The reference list for each entry provides a link to the original articles and the most important in-depth theoretical works. Last but not least, ever y entry is followed by a cross-reference to other related subject entries in the dictionary.