On the Relation of the Principle of Maximum Dissipation to the Principles of Jourdain and Gauss for Rigid Body Systems

Abstract

A dissipation based definition of the principle of Jourdain is presented for rheonomic (explicitly time dependent) mechanical systems, which evolve under the influence of convex dissipation potentials. It is shown, that the variational condition of the dissipative principle of Jourdain is the necessary condition for the maximization of the total dissipated power with respect to generalized velocities. The principle of maximum dissipation is shown to be the dual principle of the dissipative principle of Jourdain. A dissipative principle of Gauss is formulated by making use of nonsmooth analysis and potential theory and its dual principle is formulated.