Bifurcation and post-bifurcation analysis in plasticity and brittle fracture (Q1086036)

A mathematical model for the bifurcation and post-bifurcation behaviour of rate independent systems governed by normality laws is presented. The considered framework encompasses a large class of phenomena, including simple models of brittle fracture, brittle damage and metal plasticity. An associated method of asymptotic development of the bifurcation solution by integer series is discussed and illustrated by simple examples in plastic stability and fracture, i.e. the buckling of some simple elastic-plastic structures and the bifurcation of systems of interacting cracks. The proposed method furnishes a rigorous framework for the study of the bifurcation problem in the context of rate- independent dissipative systems obeying normality laws, using a different approach than the one adopted so far.