A general theory of a Cosserat surface

This paper is concerned with a general dynamical theory of a Cosserat surface, i.e., a deformable surface embedded in a Euclidean 3-space to every point of which a deformable vector is assigned. These deformable vectors, called directors, are not necessarily along the normals to the surface and possess the property that they remain invariant in length under rigid body motions. An elastic Cosserat surface and other special cases of the theory which bear directly on the classical theory of elastic shells are also discussed.