On relating redistributed elastic and inelastic stress fields

The classical lower bound theorem in plasticity states that the load requir ed to create equilibrium stresses in a structure that are below yield will always be less than or equal to the collapse load. Recent advances in deter mination of lower bound limit loads involve repeating elastic analyses afte r systematic modification of elastic moduli. The intention is to obtain low er bound limit loads from stress fields that would progressively approach a state similar to one at plastic limit. The gradual transformation of stati cally admissible stress fields from elastic to limit state can be compared to those corresponding to power-law creep indices, ranging from one to infi nity. This paper attempts to investigate the possibility of establishing su ch relationships on a one-to-one basis, by considering standard component c onfigurations. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.