A domain of influence theorem for a natural stress–heat-flux problem in the Moore–Gibson–Thompson thermoelasticity theory

Abstract

The present paper is focused on the Moore–Gibson–Thompson (MGT) thermoelasticity theory. The MGT thermoelasticity theory is a generalized form of the Lord–Shulman (LS) thermoelasticity theory as well as the Green-Naghdi thermoelasticity theory with energy dissipation (GN-III). The present work is aimed at establishing the domain of influence results in the context of this new thermoelasticity theory. We consider a mixed boundary-initial value problem representing natural stress–heat-flux disturbance inside an isotropic and homogeneous medium. We establish an identity regarding this present problem. Further, we derive the domain of influence theorem based on this identity under the MGT thermoelasticity theory. From this theorem, we conclude that for prescribed bounded support of thermomechanical loading and for a finite time, the disturbance generated by the pair of stress and heat flux vanishes outside a bounded domain. It is also analyzed that the domain of influence relies on the thermoelastic material parameters. We further compare the present domain of influence results with the corresponding results of LS thermoelasticity theory.