New notions of uniformity and homogeneity of Cosserat media

Abstract

In this paper, we study internal properties of a Cosserat media. In fact, by using groupoids and smooth distributions, we obtain a three canonical equations. The \textit{non-holonomic material equation for Cosserat media} characterizes the uniformity of the material. The \textit{holonomic material equation for Cosserat media} permits us to study when a Cosserat material is a second-grade material. It is remarkable that these two equations also provide us a unique and maximal division of the Cosserat medium into uniform and second-grade parts, respectively. Finally, we present a proper definition of homogeneity of the Cosserat medium, without assuming uniformity. Thus, the \textit{homogeneity equation for Cosserat media} characterizes this notion of homogeneity.