The B-bar method and the limitation principles

The generalized elastic material provides a reference model to cast in a unitary framework many structural models which are based on nonlinear monotone multivalued relations such as viscoelasticity, plasticity and unilateral models. The modified forms of the Hu-Washizu and Hellinger-Reissner principles and the displacement-based variational formulation are recovered for the generalized elastic material starting from a functional in the complete set of state variables. The related limitation principles are derived and their specialization to elasticity and elastoplasticity with mixed hardening are provided. It is shown that the interpolating fields for the pressure and the volumetric strain usually adopted in the B-bar method lead to a limitation principle. Accordingly the same elastic and elastoplastic solutions can be obtained by means of an approximate mixed displacement⧸pressure variational principle. A second application is concerned with the conditions ensuring the coincidence of the solutions between an approximate two-field mixed formulation and the displacement-based method. Numerical examples are provided to show the coincidence of the solutions obtained from different mixed finite element formulations, in elasticity or elastoplasticity, under the validity of the limitation principles.