Parametric variational principles and their quadratic programming solutions in plasticity

Abstract Two parametric variational principles, the parametric minimum potential energy principle and the parametric minimum complementary energy principle, are presented. These principles can be used to solve incremental problems in plasticity and geomechanics in a direct way and problems where the materials are inconsistent with Drucker's postulate of stability, such as in nonassociated flow or softening problems. Examples of applications include problems solved by both analytical and parametric quadratic programming approaches.