The book presents a concise yet reasonably comprehensive overview of fundamental notions of plasticity in relation to geomechanics. The primary objective of this work is to provide the reader with a general background in soil/rock plasticity and as such should be perceived as an introduction to the broad area of inelastic response of geomaterials. The book is divided into eight chapters. Chapters 1 & 2 start with an outline of the basic concepts and fundamental postulates followed by a review of the elastic-perfectly plastic formulations in geomechanics. The isotropic strain-hardening framework and isotropic-kinematic hardening rules the latter formulated within the context of bounding surface plasticity are discussed in Chapters 3 & 4. Chapter 5 outlines the basic techniques for numerical integration whereas Chapter 6 gives an overview of procedures for limit analysis that include applications of lower and upper bound theorems. Both these chapters are introductory in nature and are intended to provide a basic background in the respective areas. Chapter 7 deals with description of inherent anisotropy in geomaterials. Finally Chapter 8 provides an overview of the experimental response of geomaterials. The text is intended primarily for Ph. D. /M. Sc. students as well as researchers working in the areas of soil/rock mechanics. It may also be of interest to practicing engineers familiar with established notions of contemporary continuum mechanics. . Language: English