Viscoelasticity with time-dependent memory kernels. Part II: asymptotic behavior of solutions

We continue the analysis on the model equation arising in the theory of viscoelasticity $$\partial_{tt} u(t)-\big[1+k_t(0)\big]\Delta u(t) -\int_0^\infty k'_t(s)\Delta u(t-s) d s + f(u(t)) = g$$ in the presence of a (convex, nonnegative and summable) memory kernel $k_t(\cdot)$ explicitly depending on time. Such a model is apt to describe, for instance, the dynamics of aging viscoelastic materials. The earlier paper [4] was concerned with the correct mathematical setting of the problem, and provided a well-posedness result within the novel theory of dynamical systems acting on time-dependent spaces, recently established by Di Plinio {\it et al.}\ [14] In this second work, we focus on the asymptotic properties of the solutions, proving the existence and the regularity of the time-dependent global attractor for the dynamical process generated by the equation. In addition, when $k_t$ approaches a multiple $m\delta_0$ of the Dirac mass at zero as $t\to\infty$, we show that the asymptotic dynamics of our problem is close to the one of its formal limit $$\partial_{tt} u(t)-\Delta u(t) -m\Delta\partial_t u(t)+ f(u(t)) = g$$ describing viscoelastic solids of Kelvin-Voigt type.