On the nature of the response functions in rate-independent plasticity (Q1369584)

The author examines the consequences of a work inequality used by Naghdi and Trapp for rate-independent elastic-plastic continua. It is shown that the following two conditions are necessary and sufficient for the satisfaction of the work inequality: (i) the yield function in a certain space (which is referred to here as the \(\Sigma\) space) is convex, and the yield function in the stress and strain spaces can be derived from it; (ii) the rate of change of the variables which represent the inelastic response of the material is proportional to the gradient of this yield function. The introduction of the new \(\Sigma\) space is a natural result of studying the rate of energy dissipation during the inelastic processes. The main impact of this work is the reduction of the specification of constitutive equations for rate independent elastic-plastic materials to two scalar-valued functions -- the strain energy function \(\psi\) and a scalar-valued function \(\phi\) from which the yield function \(g\) in the strain space, as well as the rate of change of the variables which represent the inelastic response of the material, can be determined. The results of this paper are valid for a wide class of elastic-plastic materials. Conditions under which the elastic region in strain space is convex are also elucidated.