Introduction

Abstract

In the usual simple three-dimensional continuum it is sufficient to describe the motion of the continuum by the position vector which identifies the location of each material point as a function of time. For the purely mechanical theory, the laws of conservation of mass and the balance of linear momentum are used to determine the present values of the mass density and this position vector. Also, the balance of angular momentum is used to place restrictions on the constitutive equations of the continuum (i.e. the symmetry of the stress tensor).