Strain hardening, rate sensitivity, and gradient plasticity

Abstract Models of strain hardening and rate sensitivity are described. The classical model of isotropic hardening, applicable to any kind of material symmetry, is discussed, together with the modeling of the elastic-viscoplastic response of isotropic and crystalline materials. Scale-dependent yielding is modeled by including kinematic descriptors of plastic strain incompatibility in the yield function, and an original model of the Bauschinger effect is proposed in the context of recent developments in the field of gradient plasticity for crystalline solids