Elastic and Viscoelastic Materials

There is a long list of methods that can be used to solve problems in linear elasticity, and this includes separation of variables, Green’s functions, Fourier transforms, Laplace transforms, and the method of characteristics. The latter two will be used in this chapter, and the reasons for this will be explained as the methods are developed. Before doing this we consider a more basic issue, and this has to do with the form of the mathematical solution and its connection to the physical problem.