Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 October 2008
Categories of rigid/plastic response are investigated along arbitrary paths of homogeneous deformation. Successive yield surfaces are presumed to be convex and self-similar relative to certain canonical measures of stress and finite strain. After a general analysis attention is focussed on path-sensitive response in configurations where the canonical rate of hardening vanishes. The analysis is subsequently extended to other types of eigenstate, especially those associated with actual or prospective loading devices. The results are illustrated in the context of formability tests on sheet metal.