Cosserat Elasticity of Lattice Solids

Abstract

We discuss a model of fibrous solids composed of three families of continuously distributed Kirchhoff rods embedded in a matrix material. This is a special case of Cosserat elasticity in which the basic kinematic descriptors are a single deformation field and three rotation fields, one for each fiber family. The fibers are assumed to convect with the underlying continuum deformation as material curves. Various kinds of internal connectivity, imposing restrictions of the fiber rotations fields, are considered.