Materials with elastic range: A theory with a view toward applications. I (Q1112646)

The authors propose a theory of material behaviour of solids undergoing large deformations, which accounts for the essential traits of plastic bodies, as usually described in engineering essays. When compared with similar earlier proposals [by \textit{A. C. Pipkin} and \textit{R. S. Rivlin}, Z. Angew. Math. Phys. 16, 313-326 (1965); \textit{D. R. Owen}, Arch. Ration. Mech. Anal. 31, 91-112 (1968; Zbl 0169.280) and ibid. 37, 85-110 (1970; Zbl 0197.234); \textit{M. Šilhavý}, ibid. 63, 169-182 (1977; Zbl 0357.73033)] the present one is noteworthy just for its striving for essence. The axioms delimit the most restricted but still significant class of bodies which admit: (i) a decomposition of strain in an elastic and permanent component; (ii) the existence for each strain history of an elastic range and (iii) the property of rate-independence of the response (questions related to the notions of a yield condition and of a flow rule are deferred to a future paper). The presentation is characterized by a careful and tense wording of axioms and rigorous derivation of a few important propositions. Though in the present format the exposition is too formal to be directly useful for teaching, it offers undoubtedly the backbone for a course on the rational mechanics of plastic bodies.