Homogenization for rate-independent systems

This paper is devoted to the homogenization for a class of rate-independent systems described by the energetic formulation. The associated nonlinear partial differential system has periodically oscillating coefficients, but has the form of a standard evolutionary variational inequality. Thus, the model applies to standard linearized elastoplasticity with hardening. Using the recently developed methods of two-scale convergence, periodic unfolding and the new introduced one, periodic folding, we show that the homogenized problem can be represented as a two-scale limit which is again an energetic formulation, but now involving the macroscopic variable in the physical domain as well as the microscopic variable in the periodicity cell. (© 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)