On the membrane approximation for thin elastic shells in the hyperbolic case.
We consider the variational formulation of the problem of elastic shells in the membrane approximation, when the medium surface is hyperbolic. It appears that the corresponding bilinear form behaves as some kind of two-dimensional elasticity without shear rigidity. This amounts to saying that the membrane behaves rather as a net made of elastic strings disposed along the asymptotic curves of the surface than as an elastic two-dimensional medium. The mathematical and physical reasons of this behavior...