On solutions of the problem in stresses with the use of Maxwell stress functions

Abstract

The spatial problems of elasticity are mainly solved in displacements [1, 2], i.e., the Lame equations are taken as the initial equations. This is related to the lack of general solutions for the system of basic equations of elasticity expressed in stresses. In this connection, a new variational statement of the problem in stresses was developed in [3, 4]; this statement consists in solving six generalized equations of compatibility for six independent components of the stress tensor, while the three equilibrium equations are transferred to the set of boundary conditions. This method is more convenient for the numerical solution of problems in stresses and has been tested when solving various boundary value problems. In the present paper, analyzing the completeness of the Saint-Venant identities and using the Maxwell stress functions, we obtain a new resolving system of three differential equations of strain compatibility for the three desired stress functions φ, ξ, and ψ. This system is an alternative to the three Lame equilibrium equations for three desired displacement components u, v, w and is simpler in structure. Moreover, both of these systems of resolving equations can be solved by the new recursive-operator method [5, 6]. In contrast to well-known methods for constructing general solutions of linear differential equations and their systems, the solutions obtained by the recursive-operator method are constructed as operator-power series acting on arbitrary analytic functions of real variables (not necessarily harmonic), and the series coefficients are determined from recursive relations (matrix in the case of systems of equations). The arbitrary functions contained in the general solution can be determined directly either from the boundary conditions (the obtained system of inhomogeneous equations with a right-hand side can also be solved by the recursive-operator method [6]) or by choosing them from various classes of analytic functions (elementary, special); a complete set of particular solutions can be obtained in the same function classes, and the coefficients of linear combinations of particular solutions can be determined by the Trefftz method, the least-squares method, and the collocation method.