  This paper presents a pure complementary energy variational method for
solving anti-plane shear problem in finite elasticity. Based on the canonical
duality-triality theory developed by the author, the nonlinear/nonconex partial
differential equation for the large deformation problem is converted into an
algebraic equation in dual space, which can, in principle, be solved to obtain
a complete set of stress solutions. Therefore, a general analytical solution
form of the deformation is obtained subjected to a compatibility condition.
Applications are illustrated by examples with both convex and nonconvex stored
strain energies governed by quadratic-exponential and power-law material
models, respectively. Results show that the nonconvex variational problem could
have multiple solutions at each material point, the complementary gap function
and the triality theory can be used to identify both global and local extremal
solutions, while the popular (poly-, quasi-, and rank-one) convexities provide
only local minimal criteria, the Legendre-Hadamard condition does not guarantee
uniqueness of solutions. This paper demonstrates again that the pure
complementary energy principle and the triality theory play important roles in
finite deformation theory and nonconvex analysis.
