On self-contact and non-interpenetration of elastic rods

Abstract

In this review, we discuss some conditions for achieving non-interpenetration and self-contact of solids, in particular for regular, inextensible, and closed elastic rods. We establish some equivalences between conditions that were stated sometimes independently, underlying their local or global character. We then examine three conditions related to virtual displacements and to topological characters of knots, that can be generalized to filaments, considering the midline of the loop as an inextensible regular knot.