A discussion of uniaxial ratchetting in linear viscoelasticity is give
n in [1]. The purpose of this paper is to analyse uniaxial ratchetting
in the context of rate-independent plasticity laws. The analysis is r
eferred to constitutive models with kinematic hardening, as well as to
sawtooth input functions for stress with constant absolute value for
the stress rate. For such loading histories some analytical formulas a
nd explicit expressions concerning the model response for a sufficient
ly large number of cycles are derived. It turns out that an analogy ca
n be drawn between the constitutive models of linear viscoelasticity a
nd those of rate-independent plasticity with kinematic hardening. The
analogy is established by a correspondence between the line representi
ng the elasticity law for the equilibrium stress in viscoelasticity an
d the axis of kinematic hardening for the plasticity models defined in
this paper.