Generalized thermo-visco-elastic problem of a spherical shell with three-phase-lag effect

This problem deals with the thermo-visco-elastic interaction due to step input of temperature on the stress free boundaries of a homogeneous visco-elastic isotropic spherical shell in the context of generalized theories of thermo-elasticity. Using the Laplace transformation the fundamental equations have been expressed in the form of vector–matrix differential equation which is then solved by eigen value approach. The inverse of the transformed solution is carried out by applying a method of Bellman et al. [R. Bellman, R.E. Kolaba, J.A. Lockette, Numerical Inversion of the Laplace Transform, American Elsevier Publishing Company, New York, 1966]. The stresses are computed numerically and presented graphically in a number of figures for copper material. A comparison of the results for different theories (TEWED (GN-III), three-phase-lag method) is presented. When the body is elastic and the outer radius of the shell tends to infinity, the corresponding results agree with the result of existing literature.