Analytical solutions of transient hygrothermal stresses in elastic bodies

The nonuniform distribution of moisture and temperature causes differential expansion or contraction from one point to another in a solid. This sets up a state of internal stresses even with no application of any external mechanical forces. Under transient conditions, the stresses may undergo reversals changing from tension to compression or vice versa. If the stress or deformation gradients are assumed to have no feedback that is exerting no influence on the diffusion process, then the moisture and temperature distribution can be determined independently from the stress analysis. Moreover, as long as the solid deforms within the linear elastic range, the stress field resulting from the diffusion of moisture and temperature can be superimposed upon that from the field of external loading which is well-known in any textbook on elasticity. This Chapter considers the transient character of hygrothermal stresses in several problems that are solved analytically in closed form.