SOME HAMILTONIAN-TYPE VARIATIONAL PRINCIPLES FOR MOTIONS OF A HYGROTHERMOELASTIC MEDIUM

In a mathematical modeling of the physical behavior of a hygrothermoelastic medium, a moisture field vector and a thermal field vector are introduced, Hamilton's principle is stated, and a three-field variational principle is derived. The differential variational principle is shown, as Euler - Lagrange equations, to generate the divergence equations and the associated natural boundary conditions of a hygrothermoelastic medium. This variational principle is augmented through an involutory transformation in order to incorporate the gradient equations and the constitutive relations of an anisotropic hygrothermoelastic medium; hence, a ten-field variational principle is formulated and some of its special versions recorded.