Non-Classical Memory Kernels in Linear Viscoelasticity

In linear viscoelasticity a large variety of regular kernels have been classically employed, depend- ing on the mechanical properties of the materials to be modeled. Nevertheless, new viscoelastic materials, such as viscoelastic gels, have been recently discovered and their mechanical behavior requires convolution integral with singular kernels to be described. On the other hand, when the natural/artificial aging of the viscoelastic material has to be taken into account, time dependent kernels are needed. The aim of this chapter is to present a collection of non-standard viscoelastic kernels, with special emphasis on singular and time-dependent kernels, and discuss their ability to reproduce experimental behavior when applied to real materials. As an application, we study some magneto rheological elastomers where viscoelastic and magnetic effects are coupled.