what does 'materials with a fading memory' mean?

[benutella]

Hello, dear all

does anybody know what it is ---- the materials with a fading memory

Thanks a lot!
benutella

[Jorgen]

The term material with fading memory is a buzz word that is used to describe a material that is viscoplastic.

A (non-linear) elastic material will always recover its initial undeformed state it the load it removed. Hence, the material has perfect memory.

A viscoplastic material, on the other hand, will not recover its initial state even after the load has been removed. Hence, the material has lost some memory of its initial state.