Hellinger-Reissner variational principle for stress gradient elastic bodies with embedded coherent interfaces

An Hellinger-Reissner (H-R) variational principle is proposed for stress gradient elasticity material models. Stress gradient elasticity is an emerging branch of non-simple constitutive elastic models where the infinitesimal strain tensor is linearly related to the Cauchy stress tensor and to its Laplacian. The H-R principle here proposed is particularized for a solid composed by several sub-domains connected by coherent interfaces, that is interfaces across the which both displacement and traction vectors are continuous. In view of possible stress-based finite element applications, a reduced form of the H-R principle is also proposed in which the field linear momentum balance equations are satisfied a-priori, the continuity condition of the displacements across the interfaces is relaxed and the analogous continuity condition of the traction is enforced as a side condition.