| Abstract: | This article reviews research conducted over the past 15 years at the intersection of the physics and mechanics of a deformable
solid on the basis of the concept that plastic deformation and failure represent the evolution of shear-stability loss of
a loaded material at various scale levels. This research has led to the founding of a new scientific discipline: the physical
mesomechanics of materials, in which a deformable solid is regarded as a multilevel self-organizing system. The development
of mechanisms and stages of plastic deformation at different scale levels conforms to the principle of scale invariance. This
qualitatively changes the methods of describing the plastic deformation and failure of solids. The most pressing areas of
research in the physical mesomechanics of materials are noted; these will determine the basic trends in research on the strength
of solids in the next decade.
Institute of Strength Physics and Materials Science, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences. Translated from Izvestiya
Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 1, pp. 7–34, January, 1998. |
