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Applied Mathematics and Optimization, Vol.55, No.2, 273-284, 2007
Homogenization in the modelling of volume-controlled elastic structures
The background for this article is the question of modification of the geometric configuration of an elastic structure by means of "volume"-type actuation. In this actuation mode stresses are applied to the elastic body by injection/extraction of a fluid into, or from, a large number of vacuoles in the elastic "matrix" material. Previous articles by the author, and others, have examined this process and studied its effectiveness in the context of a "naive" continuous model. The present paper develops modified models in the two-dimensional case by applying the "multiple scales" homogenization method to elastic bodies with increasingly small and numerous vacuoles arranged in a rectangularly periodic structure. The process leads to a modification of the naive model potentially useful in future elastic system control research.