Abstract: We discuss the limiting behavior (using the notion
of -limit) of the 3d nonlinear elasticity for thin shells around an
arbitrary smooth 2d surface. In particular, under the assumption that the
elastic energy of deformations scales like
,
being the thickness of a
shell, we derive a limiting theory which is a generalization of the von
Kármán theory for plates.</p>
<p>Work done in collaboration with M.G. Mora and M.R. Pakzad.</p>