A variational approach for an electro‐elastic unilateral contact problem

Abstract

We consider a mechanical model which describes the frictionless unilateral contact between an electro‐elastic body and a rigid electrically non‐conductive foundation. For this model, a mixed variational formulation is provided. Then, using elements of the saddle point theory and a fixed point technique, an abstract result is proved. Based on this result, the existence of a unique weak solution of the mechanical problem is established. First published online: 14 Oct 2010

Keywords

• piezoelectricity
• frictionless unilateral contact
• mixed variational formulation
• weak solution