A Fenchel dualization scheme for the one-step time-discretized contact problem of quasi-static
elasto-plasticity with kinematic or isotropic hardening is considered. The associated path is induced
by a combined Moreau-Yosida / Tichonov regularization of the dual problem.
The sequence of solutions to the regularized problems is shown to converge strongly to the optimal
displacement-stress-strain triple of the original elasto-plastic contact problem in the space-continuous setting.
This property relies on the density of the intersection of certain convex sets which is shown as well.
It is also argued that the mappings associated with the resulting problems are Newton- or slantly differentiable.
Consequently, each regularized subsystem can be solved mesh-independently at a local
superlinear rate of convergence. For efficiency purposes, an inexact path-following approach is proposed and
a numerical validation of the theoretical results is given.