A.H.W. Ngan1
The International Conference on Computational & Experimental Engineering and Sciences, Vol.4, No.3, pp. 137-144, 2007, DOI:10.3970/icces.2007.004.137
Abstract When a random structure is loaded by far-field stresses, the elements inside will not be subject to the same forces because of structural inhomogeneities. Such a system represents an interesting analog to a thermal system at equilibrium -- the structural irregularities qualify for a description by a Shannon-like entropy, and there is also the usual (e.g. elastic) strain energy. When an entropy is related to energy, one immediately steps into the familiar field of statistical mechanics, but for a strained random structure, the real (Kelvin) temperature plays no role. Instead, an effective temperature exists but More >
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