Existence and uniqueness for a viscoelastic Kelvin–Voigt model with nonconvex stored energy

Abstract

We consider nonlinear viscoelastic materials of Kelvin–Voigt-type with stored energies satisfying an Andrews–Ball condition, allowing for nonconvexity in a compact set. Existence of weak solutions with deformation gradients in [Formula: see text] is established for energies of any superquadratic growth. In two space dimensions, weak solutions notably turn out to be unique in this class. Conservation of energy for weak solutions in two and three dimensions, as well as global regularity for smooth initial data in two dimensions are established under additional mild restrictions on the growth of the stored energy.