Modelling of dynamic networks of thin thermoelastic beams

We derive a distributed‐parameter model of a thin non‐linear thermoelastic beam in three dimensions. The beam can also be initially curved and twisted. Our main task is to formulate the non‐homogeneous initial, boundary and node value problem associated with the dynamics of a network of a finite number of such beams. The emphasis here is on a distributed‐parameter modelling of the geometric and kinematic node conditions. The forces and couples appearing in the boundary and node conditions can then be viewed as control variables. The analysis of the resulting control systems and their controllability and stabilizability properties is the subject of [25] and of forthcoming papers.