Spector, Scott J.2007-08-162007-08-161983https://hdl.handle.net/11299/4451We prove that an elastic bar undergoing uniaxial tension will not neck before the axial load on the bar attains a (local) maximum. Further, if the bar is in a hard loading device we show that necking is delayed until after maximum load is achieved. The key ingredient in the latter result is a generalized Korn inequality.