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A theory of the Erigen’s differential nonlocal beams of (isotropic) elastic material is prospected independent of the original integral formulation. The beam problem is addressed within a $$C^{(0)}-$$ C ( 0 ) - continuous displacement framework admitting slope discontinuities of the deflected beam axis with the formation of bending hinges at every cross section where a transverse concentrated external force is applied, either a load or a reaction. Concepts sparsely known from the literature are in this paper used within a more general context, in which the beam is envisioned as a macro-beam whose microstructure is able to take on a size dependent initial curvature dictated by the loading and constraint conditions. Indeed, initial curvature seems to be an effective analytical tool to inject size effects into micro- and nano-beams. The proposed theory is applied to a set of benchmark beam problems showing that a softening behaviour is always predicted without the appearance of paradoxical situations. Comparisons with other theories are also presented.

The paper deals with the determination of the symmetric model and proper boundary conditions for solving nonlocal elastic symmetric structures. The above concepts, in the context of nonlocal integral elasticity, turn out to be different with respect to the standard ones, classically applied when dealing with local elastic symmetric structures. Indeed, when only a symmetric portion of the structure is analyzed, the nonlocal effects induced by the remaining (cut) portions are lost, this necessitates the consideration of an enlarged symmetric model on which appropriate nonlocal boundary conditions have to be imposed. It has to be pointed out how the width of such an enlarged model depends on the nonlocal material parameters, while the correct unknown nonlocal boundary conditions are here obtained and enforced by an iterative procedure. The accuracy of the proposed approach in solving nonlocal structural symmetric problems is tested with the aid of two numerical examples.

A special weak-form shakedown is studied for elastic–plastic internal-variable material models with nonlinear hardening, damageable elastic moduli and damageable yield surface, in the hypothesis of ductile damage, (i.e. damage induced by plastic strains), but the precise evolutive law of damage being left unspecified. Sufficient weak-form shakedown theorems are presented, one static and another kinematic, each assessing whether eventually plastic deformations cease together with their consequences, including ductile damage. A two-sided delimitation is provided, within which the weak-form shakedown safety factor can be located. An upper bound to the post-transient damage for a particular isotropic damage model is also proposed. A simple numerical application is presented.

A numerical approach for structural analysis of masonry walls in plane stress conditions is presented. The assumption of a perfectly no-tension material (NTM) constitutive model, whose relevant equations are in the form of classical rate-independent associated flow laws of elastoplastic material, allows one to adopt numerical procedures commonly used in computational plasticity. An accuracy analysis on the integration algorithm employed in the solution of constitutive relations has been carried out. The results obtained for some relevant case-studies and their comparison with data, available in the literature show the effectiveness of the proposed method.

In the hypothesis of small displacements and combined time-variable/steady loads, the geometrical-mechanical properties of the shakedown load boundary are investigated. It is shown that, in the load space, the shakedown load boundary plays the role of yield surface, and that a certain plastic strain accumulation vector—characterizing some impending inadaptation collapse mechanism—obeys the normality rule, whereas a specific form of the maximum plastic work theorem constitutes an effective tool for the evaluation of the shakedown limit load corresponding to a specified inadaptation collapse mode. The equations governing the state of the structure at the shakedown limit are provided and the related collapse mechanism is shown to specify the shape of the steady-state response of the structure to a periodic load enveloping the load domain with an intensity slightly above the shakedown limit.