Dissipation in contact problems: theory and applications.

The dynamic vibrations of mechanical systems, caused for instance by the
noise and vibration characteristics of cars and car components, is a
subject which has attracted considerable attention in the
automotive industry. A particular interest is to reduce unwanted or
disturbing noises generated often for instance by the dynamic
contact of parts and components. Then, an appreciable goal  in the
Mathematical Theory of Contact Mechanics is to understand and to
study the transmission of the vibrations across the mechanical
joints. In this talk we will give an overview and we will present
some recent results on the asymptotic behavior of the solutions for
contact problems.