NONLOCAL STRAIN-SOFTENING BAR REVISITED

Localization and dissipation in a nonlocal strain softening bar are in vestigated analytically. A nonlocal elastic-plastic model consistent w ith thermodynamic theory is proposed. The flow rules of nonlocal assoc iated plasticity are derived by invoking a generalized form of the pri nciple of maximum dissipation in classical plasticity. Analytical solu tions are derived for a linearly strain softening material. The relati onship between nonlocal characteristic length and width of localized z one is elucidated. A comparison with results obtained from correspondi ng gradient approach is presented. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.