An admissible form of an inelastic constitutive equation—I. General theory

From the viewpoint of irreversible thermodynamics an admissible form of rate-type constitutive equation of inelastic materials is given. The displacement gradient tensor F referred to the temporarily fixed reference frame which coincides with the Euler frame at the instant of the reference time is decomposed linearly into elastic and inelastic parts so that the procedure of formulation is simplified and clarified. The inelastic deformation rate is directly related to the internal production rate of entropy. The existence of an inelastic potential of the usual sense is not assumed, though the result can be understood to include the conventional flow theory based on an inelastic potential. An example of an elastoviscoplastic constitutive equation is given and some properties of yield surfaces are discussed.