On the surface instability of a highly elastic half-space

The phenomenon of surface instability of an isotropic half-space under biaxial plane stress is studied for compressible elastic materials in finite strain. Euler's method is used to derive the general form of the stability criterion, and analytical details are exhibited by special application to the class of hyperelastic Hadamard materials in two complementary cases: (i) the full solution is derived for the compressible, neo-Hookean members, and (ii) the plane deformation solution is provided for every isotropic, elastic material and specific results are presented for the full Hadamard class. Results appropriate to incompressible Mooney-Rivlin materials are herein obtained as special limit cases. Several theorems are established and some of the conclusions are illustrated graphically.