Global existence results for viscoplasticity at finite strain (Q1702443)

The purpose of this paper is to study a model for rate-dependent gradient plasticity at finite strain and to investigate the existence of global-in-time solutions to the related PDE system. To this aim a number of approximations are assumed, like quadratic dissipation potential, and variational theory for gradient flows. As a result of these axioms, strong geometric nonlinearities occur. Then the generalized gradient system is introduced, which gives rise to the chain rule inequality (CRI), the energy-dissipation balance (EDB), and energy-dissipation inequality (EDI), with corresponding solutions. The first main theorem states the existence of EDI solutions for viscoplasticity. Another theorem states the existence of EDB solutions for a modified system for viscoplasticity. Finally, extensions to several variables are briefly discussed. The proofs use Gâteau derivative, Cauchy-Binet relation, Gagliardi-Nirenberg, Hölder, Young, Korn, Poincaré and Gronvall inequalities.