Instabilities in power law gradient hardening materials

Tension and compression instabilities are investigated for specimens with dimensions in the micron range. A finite strain generalization of a higher order strain gradient plasticity theory is implemented in a finite element scheme capable of modeling power law hardening materials. Effects of gradient hardening are found to delay the onset of localization under plane strain tension, and significantly reduce strain gradients in the localized zone. For plane strain compression gradient hardening is found to increase the load-carrying capacity significantly.