Preliminaries

Abstract

The theory of elastoplastic media is now a mature branch of solid and structural mechanics, having experienced significant development during the latter half of the twentieth century. In particular, the classical theory, which deals with small-strain elastoplasticity problems, has a firm mathematical basis, and from this basis further developments, both mathematical and computational, have evolved. Small-strain elastoplasticity is well understood, and the understanding of its governing equations can be said to be almost complete. Likewise, theoretical, computational, and algorithmic work on approximations in the spatial and time domains are at a stage at which approximations of desired accuracy can be achieved with confidence.