Transition waves in bistable structures. I. Delocalization of damage

A nonmonotonic piecewise linear constitutive relation for each link consists of two stable branches separated by a gap of zero resistance was proposed. Chains of dimensionless masses connected by breakable bistable links were considered. It was shown that the chain of such strongly non-linear elements has an increased in-the-large stability under extension in comparison with a conventional chain. The parameters of the structures were optimized in order to improve its resistance to a slow loading. It was also shown that the dissipation is a function of the gap between the stable branches.