Injectivity almost everywhere and mappings with finite distortion in nonlinear elasticity

Abstract: We show that a sufficient condition for the weak limit of a sequence of $W^1_q$-homeomorphisms with finite distortion to be almost everywhere injective for $q \geq n-1$, can be stated by means of composition operators. Applying this result, we study nonlinear elasticity problems with respect to these new classes of mappings. Furthermore, we impose loose growth conditions on the stored-energy function for the class of $W^1_n$-homeomorphisms with finite distortion and integrable inner as well as outer distortion coefficients.