Electronic Journal of Differential Equations,
Vol. 2003(2003), No. 50, pp. 1-15.

Title: Existence and uniqueness of the solution to a 
       3D thermoviscoelastic system

Authors: Elena Bonetti     (Univ. di Pavia, Italy)
         Giovanna Bonfanti (Univ. di Brescia, Italy)

Abstract: 
 This paper presents results on existence and uniqueness of solutions
 to a three-dimensional thermoviscoelastic system.  The constitutive
 relations of the model are recovered by a free energy functional
 and a pseudo-potential of dissipation. Using a fixed point
 argument, combined with an a priori estimates-passage to the limit
 technique, we prove a local existence result for a related initial
 and boundary values problem. Hence, uniqueness of the solution is
 proved on the whole time interval, as well as positivity of the
 absolute temperature.
 
Submitted December 9, 2002. Published April 29, 2003.
Math Subject Classifications: 74D10, 35K60, 74A15.
Key Words: 3D thermoviscoelastic system; thermomechanical modelling; 
           nonlinear PDE's system; existence and uniqueness results.