Configurational forces in defect mechanics and in computational methods

This book presents a brief introduction into the concept of configurational (or material) forces. To facilitate the approach to this concept, some basic continuum mechanical ideas are explained in the beginning. Different approaches to configurational forces are sketched and discussed. The second part of the book shows applications of configurational forces to different defect situations and explains the use of these forces within the Finite Element Method. The defect situations include point defect migration and precipitate evolution in two-phase materials as well as crack propagation in hyperelastic materials. In the case of ferroelectric rnaterials, the influence of point, surface and volume defects on domain wall motion is analysed. The part on computational aspects is concerned with the use of configurational forces in r- and h-adaptive strategies.