Combined hardening and localized failure with softening plasticity in dynamics

We present for one-dimensional model for elastoplastic bar with combined hardening in FPZ - fracture process zone and softening with embedded strong discontinuities. The simplified version of the model without FPZ is directly compared and validated against analytical solution of Bazant and Belytschko (1985). It is shown that deformation localizes in an area which is governed by the chosen element size and therefore causes mesh sensitivity and that the length of the strain-softening region tends to localize into a point, which also agrees with results obtained by stability analysis for static case. Strain increases in the softening domain with a simultaneous decrease of stress. The problem unloads elastically outside the strain-softening region. The more general case with FPZ leads to more interesting results that also account for induced strain heterogeneities.