Delamination of an elastic film from an elastic–plastic substrate during adhesive contact loading and unloading

Adhesive contact between a rigid sphere and an elastic film on an elastic–perfectly plastic substrate was examined in the context of finite element simulation results. Surface adhesion was modeled by nonlinear springs obeying a force-displacement relationship governed by the Lennard–Jones potential. A bilinear cohesive zone law with prescribed cohesive strength and work of adhesion was used to simulate crack initiation and growth at the film/substrate interface. It is shown that the unloading response consists of five sequential stages: elastic recovery, interface damage (crack) initiation, damage evolution (delamination), film elastic bending, and abrupt surface separation (jump-out), with plastic deformation in the substrate occurring only during damage initiation. Substrate plasticity produces partial closure of the cohesive zone upon full unloading (jump-out), residual tensile stresses at the front of the crack tip, and irreversible downward bending of the elastic film. Finite element simulations illustrate the effects of minimum surface separation (i.e., maximum compressive surface force), work of adhesion and cohesive strength of the film/substrate interface, substrate yield strength, and initial crack size on the evolution of the surface force, residual deflection of the elastic film, film-substrate separation (debonding), crack-tip opening displacement, and contact instabilities (jump-in and jump-out) during a full load–unload cycle. The results of this study provide insight into the interdependence of contact instabilities and interfacial damage (cracking) encountered in layered media during adhesive contact loading and unloading.     

Crack tip field in a linear elastic–plastic strain-hardening material

The strip necking model for strain-hardening materials is studied in this paper, in which the stress distributed over the strip necking zone is assumed to be ultimate stress. The bi-linear stress–strain relation which can model certain features of plastic flow is adopted in this model. The stress and strain fields are calculated based on this model in this paper. The size of the strip necking region is determined by balancing the stress intensity factor due to remote loading with that due to assumed closing forces equal to the ultimate tensile strength of the material distributed over the strip necking zone. It is interesting that the strip necking region size and the crack tip opening displacement depend not only on the remote load, but also the material hardening parameters, which is different from the results of strip yield model. The results agree with experiments well, and the model has wider application.     

Unloading of an elastic–plastic spherical contact under stick contact condition

The unloading process of an elastic–plastic spherical contact under stick contact condition is analyzed for various material properties. The evolution of normal and shear stress distribution at the contact area as well as the residual profile of the sphere and residual von Mises stresses inside the sphere are presented. Empirical expressions for the residual interference and for the evolution of the interference and contact area during the unloading are provided. Good agreement with experimental results is shown.     

Energy relaxation of non-convex incremental stress potentials in a strain-softening elastic–plastic bar

We propose a fundamentally new concept to the treatment of material instabilities and localization phenomena based on energy minimization principles in a strain-softening elastic–plastic bar. The basis is a recently developed incremental variational formulation of the local constitutive response for generalized standard media. It provides a quasi-hyperelastic stress potential that is obtained from a local minimization of the incremental energy density with respect to the internal variables. The existence of this variational formulation induces the definition of the material stability of inelastic solids based on convexity properties in analogy to treatments in elasticity. Furthermore, localization phenomena are understood as micro-structure development associated with a non-convex incremental stress potential in analogy to phase decomposition problems in elasticity. For the one-dimensional bar considered the two-phase micro-structure can analytically be resolved by the construction of a sequentially weakly lower semicontinuous energy functional that envelops the not well-posed original problem. This relaxation procedure requires the solution of a local energy minimization problem with two variables which define the one-dimensional micro-structure developing: the volume fraction and the intensity of the micro-bifurcation. The relaxation analysis yields a well-posed boundary-value problem for an objective post-critical localization analysis. The performance of the proposed method is demonstrated for different discretizations of the elastic–plastic bar which document on the mesh-independence of the results.     

Effect of strain hardening in elastic–plastic transition behavior in a hemisphere in contact with a rigid flat

An axisymmetrical hemispherical asperity in contact with a rigid flat is modeled for an elastic–plastic material on the lines of the Kogut–Etsion Model (KE Model) and the Jackson–Green Model (JG Model). The present work extends the previous KE and JG works, accounting for the effect of realistic material behavior in terms of the varying yield strengths and the isotropic strain hardening behavior. The predicted results show that the transition behavior of the materials from the elastic–plastic to the fully plastic case is influenced by the yield strength and the tangent modulus (E_t) and such transition do not take place at specific values of interference ratios as suggested by the KE model. New empirical relations are proposed to determine the contact load and the contact area based on the analysis. Numerical results from the finite element modeling are also validated with an experimental ball on flat configuration approach.     

Thermo-mechanical coupling strategies in elastic–plastic problems

Modeling strategies aimed at thermo-mechanical coupled problems has been developed for a wide range of engineering applications. Staggered-type coupling procedures have been largely used in materials processing operations, especially in commercial codes, owing to their simplicity and flexibility. The present work shows that, in thermo-plastic problems, the classical implementation of the most common coupling procedure may present accuracy issues and time-stepping dependency. Numerical experiments indicate that an iterative coupling scheme constitutes a viable and simple approach to this class of problems.     

Spherical impression of thin elastic films on elastic–plastic substrates

The mechanical behavior of thin elastic films deposited onto structural alloys plays a critical role in determining film durability. This paper presents analysis of an impression experiment designed to evaluate some of the relevant properties of these films. The modeling provides quantitative strain information which can be used to estimate the fracture toughness of the film, the static friction coefficient of the surface and the constitutive behavior of the substrate. Results are presented for radial and circumferential strain distributions in the film relevant to the interpretation of cracking patterns. Additionally, load-displacement curves are provided that may be used to evaluate the plastic properties of the substrate. To facilitate estimates of the film cracking strain through correlation with experiments, the radial strain distributions are presented as functions of impression depth, yield strain and hardening exponent.     

Finite element analysis of large contact deformation of an elastic–plastic sinusoidal asperity and a rigid flat

Normal contact deformation of an asperity and a rigid flat is studied within an axisymmetric finite element model. The asperity features a sinusoidal profile and is elastic–plastic with linear strain hardening. Influences of geometrical (asperity height and width) and loading (the maximum interference) parameters on frictionless contact responses are explored for both loading and unloading. Dimensionless expressions for contact size and pressures covering a large range of interference and asperity ratio values are obtained in power-law forms. Results show the mean contact pressure after fully-plastic contact reaches a plateau only for small asperity ratios, while it continues increasing for large asperity ratios. The residual depth is found to be associated with plastically dissipated energy.     

A note on divergence and flutter instabilities in elastic–plastic materials

Dynamic stability of uniform straining of a nonlinear elastic solid is known to require that all eigenvalues of the acoustic tensor associated with the tangent elastic moduli be real and nonnegative. The focus of this note is to what extent this conclusion applies to time-independent, elastoplastic materials. Nonlinearity of the elastic–plastic constitutive law imposes limits on validity of a solution to the linear problem for which the acoustic tensor is determined. The effect of those limits on the conclusions about instability is examined.     

On establishing elastic–plastic properties of a sphere by indentation testing

Instrumented indentation is a popular technique for determining mechanical properties of materials. Currently, the evaluation techniques of instrumented indentation are mostly limited to a flat substrate being indented by various shaped indenters (e.g., conical or spherical). This work investigates the possibility of extending instrumented indentation to non-flat surfaces. To this end, conical indentation of a sphere is investigated where two methodologies for establishing mechanical properties are explored. In the first approach, a semi-analytical approach is employed to determine the elastic modulus of the sphere utilizing the elastic unloading response (the “unloading slope”). In the second method, reverse analysis based on finite element analysis is used, where non-dimensional characteristic functions derived from the force–displacement response are utilized to determine the elastic modulus and yield strength. To investigate the accuracies of the proposed methodologies, selected numerical experiments have been performed and excellent agreement was obtained.     

Modelling paper as a two-dimensional elastic–plastic stochastic network

Stochastic two-dimensional elastic–plastic network models are used to represent the inelastic deformation behavior of well-bonded paper. Linear kinematic hardening is employed with an initial non-zero back stress to represent anisotropic fiber yield. Network models are used to simulate simple monotonic tension and simple cyclic tension of paper materials. The performance of the models is compared to experimental results and found to perform reasonably well. The results suggest that interfiber bonding must be explicitly accounted for to adequately describe the material. Some discrepancy between the model and experimental cyclic tension results is believed to be due to time-dependent strain recovery in the material which is not represented in the network models. Experimental results are also presented which show that simple tension failure in these materials occurs along a line of localized deformation in a majority of the samples. This line is generally observed to form immediately prior to failure and is oriented at a well-defined angle with respect to the loading direction.     

A critical state sand model with elastic–plastic coupling

Soil elastic moduli are highly pressure-dependent. Experimental findings have indicated that the elastic shear modulus of sands depends on p^χ, where p is mean principal effective stress and χ is a non-dimensional parameter. χ practically remains unchanged for shear strains less than 10⁻⁵ where the mechanical behavior is purely elastic. However, experiments have revealed that the emergence of plasticity for shear strains larger than 10⁻⁵ provokes a gradual increase in χ. Technically, this observation is an elastic–plastic coupling effect in which plasticity causes to change the elastic characteristics. Here, this issue is considered in hyper-elasticity framework in conjunction with a critical state compatible bounding surface plasticity platform for granular soils. To this aim, constitutive equations linking χ to a proper kinematic hardening parameter are presented. Then, using the proposed approach, a hyper-elastic theory is modified to consider the mentioned elastic–plastic coupling effect in the whole domain of the elastoplastic behavior. Adopting the improved hyper-elasticity necessitates the modification of a number of basic plasticity platform elements. In this regard, dilatancy and plastic hardening modulus of the bounding surface platform are modified. Successful performance of the modified constitutive model is presented against experimental data of loading/unloading triaxial tests.     

Shakedown theorems for elastic–plastic solids in the framework of gradient plasticity

Static and kinematic shakedown theorems are given for a class of generalized standard materials endowed with a hardening saturation surface in the framework of strain gradient plasticity. The so-called residual-based gradient plasticity theory is employed. The hardening law admits a hardening potential, which is a C¹-continuous function of a set of kinematic internal variables and of their spatial gradients, and is required to satisfy a global sign restriction (but not to be necessarily convex). The totally produced, the accumulated and the freely moving dislocations per unit volume, distinguished as statistically stored and geometrically necessary ones, are in this way accounted for. Like for a generalized standard material, the shakedown safety factor is found to depend on the (generally size dependent) yield and saturation limits, but not on the particular differential-type hardening law of the material.     

Steady crack growth in elastic–plastic fluid-saturated porous media

An asymptotic solution is obtained for stress and pore pressure fields near the tip of a crack steadily propagating in an elastic–plastic fluid-saturated porous material displaying linear isotropic hardening. Quasi-static crack growth is considered under plane strain and Mode I loading conditions. In particular, the effective stress is assumed to obey the Drucker–Prager yield condition with associative or non-associative flow-rule and linear isotropic hardening is adopted. Both permeable and impermeable crack faces are considered. As for the problem of crack propagation in poroelastic media, the behavior is asymptotically drained at the crack-tip. Plastic dilatancy is observed to have a strong effect on the distribution and intensity of pore water pressure and to increase its flux towards the crack-tip.     

A new formulation of the effective elastic–plastic response of two-phase particulate composite materials

In this paper the double-inclusion model, originally developed to determine effective linear elastic properties of composite materials, is reformulated and extended to predict the effective nonlinear elastic–plastic response of two-phase particulate composites reinforced with spherical particles. The resulting problem of elastic–plastic deformation of a double-inclusion embedded in an infinite reference medium subjected to an incrementally applied far-field strain is solved by the finite element method. The proposed double-inclusion model is evaluated by comparison of the model predictions to the available exact results obtained by the direct approach using representative volume elements containing many particles. It is found that the double-inclusion formulation is capable of providing accurate prediction of the effective elastic–plastic response of two-phase particulate composites at moderate particle volume fractions.     

Determination of the effective elastic–plastic response of metal–ceramic composites

The mechanical response of metal–ceramic composites is analysed through a homogenization model accounting for the mechanical behaviour of the constituent materials. In order to achieve this purpose a nonlinear homogenization method based on the phase field approach has been suitably implemented into a numerical code. A prescribed homogenized strain state is applied to a unit volume element of a metal–ceramic composite with proportional loading in which all components of the strain tensor are proportional to one scalar parameter. The mechanical response of the material has been modeled by considering a von Mises plasticity model for the metal phase and a Drucker–Prager associative elastic–plastic material model for the ceramic phase. A two stages plasticity has been obtained in which inelastic strain develops in the metal phase followed by a fully plastic response. A comparison with a finite element model of the stress–strain response of an axisymmetric unit cell has been carried out with the purpose to validate the homogenization based modeling presented in the paper. Plastic parameters of a Drucker–Prager yield surface for the homogenized composite have been calculated at different materials compositions. Associative Drucker–Prager plasticity has been found to be accurate for high ceramic content.     

A unified expression of elastic–plastic notch stress–strain calculation in bodies subjected to multiaxial cyclic loading

In this paper, a simplified thermodynamics analysis of cyclic plastic deformation is performed in order to establish an energy transition relation for describing the elastic–plastic stress and strain behavior of the notch-tip material element in bodies subjected to multiaxial cyclic loads. Based on the thermodynamics analysis, it is deduced that in the case of elastic–plastic deformation, Neuber’s rule inevitably overestimates the actual stress and strain at the notch tip, while the equivalent strain energy density (ESED) method tends to underestimate the actual notch-tip stress and strain. According to the actual energy conversion occurring in the notch-tip material element during cyclic plastic deformation, a unified expression for estimating the elastic–plastic notch stress–strain responses in bodies subjected to multiaxial cyclic loads is developed, of which Neuber’s rule and the ESED method become two particular cases, i.e. upper and lower bound limits of the notch stress and strain estimations. This expression is verified experimentally under both proportional and non-proportional multiaxial cyclic loads and a good agreement between the calculated and the measured notch strains has been achieved. It is also shown that in the case of multiaxial cyclic loading, the unified expression distinctly improves the accuracy of the notch-tip stress–strain estimations in comparison with Neuber’s rule and the ESED method. The unified expression of the notch stress–strain calculation developed in this paper can thus provide a more logical approximate approach for estimating the elastic–plastic notch-tip stress and strain responses of components subjected to lengthy multiaxial cyclic loading histories for local strain approach-based fatigue-crack-initiation life prediction.     

The elastic–plastic behaviour of foam under shock loading

An experimental investigation of the elastic–plastic nature of shock wave propagation in foams was undertaken. The study involved experimental blast wave and shock tube loading of three foams, two polyurethane open-cell foams and a low-density polyethylene closed-cell foam. Evidence of precursor waves was observed in all three foam samples under various compressive wave loadings. Experiments with an impermeable membrane are used to determine if the precursor wave in an open-cell foam is a result of gas filtration or an elastic response of the foam. The differences between quasi-static and shock compression of foams is discussed in terms of their compressive strain histories and the implications for the energy absorption capacity of foam in both loading scenarios. Through a comparison of shock tube and blast wave loading techniques, suggestions are made concerning the accurate measurements of the principal shock Hugoniot in foams.