Influence of strain-rate sensitivity on necking under uniaxial tension

Abstract The influence of material strain-rate dependence on necking retardation is studied. A relatively small amount of strain-rate dependence is known to lead to substantially increased straining prior to necking. Criteria based on linearized stability analyses do not reveal this behavior. A nonlinear analysis for long-wavelength nonuniformities does reproduce the essential details of the phenomenon. Limitations of the analysis are discussed.