The literature on thixotropy modeling is reviewed, with particular emphasis on models for
yield stress materials that possess elasticity. The various possible approaches that have
been adopted to model the different facets of the mechanical behavior of this kind of
materials are compared and discussed in detail. An appraisal is given of the advantages
and disadvantages of algebraic versus differential stress equations. The thixotropy
phenomenon is described as a dynamical system whose equilibrium locus is the flow curve …