Relaxation of a class of variational models in crystal plasticity

Abstract

We investigated the effect of spontaneous formation of microstructures on the macroscopic material behaviour in a class of models in finite single-crystal plasticity without hardening. In particular, we show that, even in the presence of a single active slip system, the formation of slip bands leads to a very soft behaviour of the sample in response to a large class of applied loads. This contrasts with results obtained under the assumption of rigid elasticity.