The fundamental role of nonlocal and local balance laws of material forces in finite elastoplasticity and damage mechanics

In this paper the fundamental role of independent balance laws of material forces acting on dislocations and microdefects is shown. They enable a thermodynamically consistent formulation of dissipative deformation processes of continua with dislocation motion and defect evolution in the material space on meso- and microlevel. The balance laws of material forces together with the classical balance laws of physical forces and couples, first and second laws of thermodynamics for physical and material space and general constitutive equations are the basis to develop a thermodynamically consistent framework of nonlocal finite elastoplasticity and brittle and ductile damage. It is shown that a weakly-nonlocal formulation of the balance laws of material forces leads to gradient theories, where local theories are obtained, if all gradient contributions are assumed to be small. In this case the local balance laws of material forces together with the constitutive equations represent evolution laws of the material forces. In the classical approach of internal variables they are assumed from the outset with the result that there is a large number of different propositions in the literature. The well-known splitting test of a circular cylinder of concrete is simulated numerically, where the process of deformation in the physical space and defect and plastic evolution in the material space is represented. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.