Viscoelastic hinge formation in beams (Q1573460)

The interaction between acceleration of stress relaxation and strain is examined within the structural theory of beams of nonlinear viscoelastic material. The constitutive equations with ``strain clock'' exhibit the acceleration of stress relaxation. The authors study the process which occurs after the application of transverse loads to the beam when the stresses of outer material elements decrease so that the location of maximum stress moves to the interior of the cross-section and the curvature increases rapidly. These effects are interpreted as onset and growth of ``viscoelastic hinge'', which is analogous to the plastic hinge in elastic-perfectly plastic materials.