摘要
Results of mechanical tests of candidate materials are presented and the material constitutive behaviour classified. A variational theorem is then derived by using the Stieltjes convolution notation which enables the equations governing the geometrically-non-linear dynamic response of linkages fabricated in linear viscoelastic composite materials to be systematically established. The formulation includes inertial terms which couple the kinematic deformations of the link material with the kinematics governing the gross motion of the linkage being analyzed. This variational principle provides the basis for a finite element formulation in which the properties of the heterogeneous, two-constituent laminates are represented by a continuum model for a homogeneous single-constituent material.