Abstract
The plane strain bifurcation of compressible solids is analyzed with finite elements by checking the singularity of the tangential stiffness matrix. The performance of the finite element method is tested by comparing numerical to analytical results in the particular case of the plane strain compression of hypoelastic materials. Although tested for a simple example, the proposed method can be applied to analyze the bifurcation phenomena which are observed in the boundary value problems of solid mechanics, structural geology, and geomechanics.
