A generalized strain model for nonlinear residually stressed magneto-electrically coupled viscoelastic solids.

In this communication a generalized strain approach is proposed to model constitutive equations for nonlinear residually stressed magneto-electric coupled viscoelastic solids with short term memory. This approach is a change with respect to the work that has been done, in the last decades, on the mechanics of nonlinear solids. The generalized strain model uses spectral invariants, where they have a clear physical meaning and hence are attractive for use in experiments. A specific form for a constitutive equation containing single-variable functions is presented, which are easy to deal with, if compared to multivariable functions. The effects of viscosity, residual stress and magneto-electric fields are studied via the results of boundary value problems, and some of these results are compared with experimental data. • A generalized strain approach is proposed to obtain constitutive equations. • A nonlinear residually stressed magneto-electric coupled viscoelastic solid is built. • The generalized strain model uses spectral invariants, all with physical meaning. • The effects of viscosity, residual stress and magneto-electric fields are studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]