Elastic shadow flow and its theoretical implications for inelastic solids (Q5938129)

The author introduces an instantaneous local reference corresponding to a material element, the so-called ``shadow'' (elastically unstretched) configuration. A related state variable transformation and the definition of a shadow frame time derivative are then shown to facilitate a more tractable theoretical reformulation. Three equivalent variants of this general theory are presented, one expressed in terms of a gradient-type ``cell placement tensor'', a second involving symmetric elastic stretch and orthogonal cell orientation tensors, and a third in which the above-mentioned elastic stretch is replaced by elastic (natural) log-strain tensor. In all forms, basic thermodynamic considerations result in general expressions for true stress response in terms of energy derivatives, for the rate of mechanical dissipation, and in deriving necessary conditions for Il'yushin stability. The author also identifies specific circumstances under which these results reduce to familiar Drucker-like forms.