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Lie groupoids and their associated algebroids arise naturally in the study of the constitutive properties of continuous media. Thus, continuum mechanics and differential geometry illuminate each other in a mutual entanglement of theory and applications. Given any material property, such as the elastic energy or an index of refraction, affected by the state of deformation of the material body, one can automatically associate to it a groupoid. Under conditions of differentiability, this material groupoid is a Lie groupoid. Its associated Lie algebroid plays an important role in the determination of the existence of material defects, such as dislocations. This paper presents a rather intuitive treatment of these ideas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The theory of singular dislocations is placed within the framework of the theory of continuous dislocations using de Rham currents. For a general n-dimensional manifold, an (n − 1)-current describes a local layering structure and its boundary in the sense of currents represents the structure of the dislocations. Frank’s rules for dislocations follow naturally from the nilpotency of the boundary operator. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

For evolutionary processes of material remodelling and growth, a comparison is drawn between a conventional formulation and one that postulates the existence of additional balance laws for the configurational forces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The constitutive characterization of the uniformity and homogeneity of binary elastic composites is presented in terms of a combination of the material groupoids of the individual constituents. The incorporation of these two groupoids within a single double groupoid is proposed as a viable mathematical framework for a unified formulation of this and similar kinds of problems in continuum mechanics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abnormal, excessive stresses acting on articular joint surfaces are speculated to be one of the causes for joint degeneration. However, articular surface stresses have not been studied systematically, since it is technically difficult to measure in vivo contact areas and pressures in dynamic situations. Therefore, we implemented a numerical model of articular surface contact using accurate surface geometries. The model was developed for the cat patellofemoral joint. We demonstrated that small misalignments of the patella relative to the femur change the joint contact mechanics substantially for a given external load. These results suggest that misalignment might be studied as one of the factors causing articular cartilage disorder and joint degeneration. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]