Mathematical Justification of the Obstacle Problem in the Case of a Shallow Shell

Abstract

This paper deals with the asymptotic formulation and justification of a mechanical model for a shallow shell in frictionless unilateral contact with an obstacle. The first three parts of the paper concern the formulation of the equilibrium problem. Special attention is paid to the contact conditions, which are usual within two or three dimensional elasticity, but which are not so usual in shell theories. Lastly the limit problem is formulated in the main part of the paper and a convergence result is presented. Two points are worth stressing here. First, we point out that unlike classical bilateral shell models justifications, the functional framework of the present analysis involves cones. Secondly, while the cones result from a positivity condition on the boundary as long as the thickness parameter is finite, leading to a Signorini problem in the Sobolev space H1, the cone results from a positivity condition in the domain, giving rise to a so-called obstacle problem in the Sobolev space H2 at the limit.