Institute of Fundamental Technological Research

The theory of plasticity represents one of the branches of rapidly developing continuum mechanics. The progress consists of both a careful analysis of the basic equations and physical relations and an extension of the range of problems and effective solutions covered by this theory. In real media the non-homogeneity of mechanical properties may be caused by numerous phenomena and its nature may be very diverse. First, it is evident that a universal property of bodies occurring in practice is their microscopic non-homogeneity. It is well- known that there have been many successful1 attempts to include microscopic non-homogeneity in the structure of Continuum Theory. The objective of the chapter, however, is the macroscopic nonhomogeneity that is taking place in regions whose linear dimensions are comparable with the characteristic dimensions of the body under consideration. The nonhomogeneity of mechanical properties may be caused, for instance, by phenomena such as the influence of flow of elementary particles, the action of temperature gradients, a nonhomogeneous hardening of the material, different types of surface working, nonhomogeneity of the composition, and so on.