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.     

Variational methods for the steady state response of elastic–plastic solids subjected to cyclic loads

Solids (or structures) of elastic–plastic internal variable material models and subjected to cyclic loads are considered. A minimum net resistant power theorem, direct consequence of the classical maximum intrinsic dissipation theorem of plasticity theory, is envisioned which describes the material behavior by determining the plastic flow mechanism (if any) corresponding to a given stress/hardening state. A maximum principle is provided which characterizes the optimal initial stress/hardening state of a cyclically loaded structure as the one such that the plastic strain and kinematic internal variable increments produced over a cycle are kinematically admissible. A steady cycle minimum principle, integrated form of the aforementioned minimum net resistant power theorem, is provided, which characterizes the structure’s steady state response (steady cycle) and proves to be an extension to the present context of known principles of perfect plasticity. The optimality equations of this minimum principle are studied and two particular cases are considered: (i) loads not exceeding the shakedown limit (so recovering known results of shakedown theory) and (ii) specimen under uniform cyclic stress (or strain). Criteria to assess the structure’s ratchet limit loads are given. These, together with some insensitivity features of the structure’s alternating plasticity state, provide the basis to the ratchet limit load analysis problem, for which solution procedures are discussed.     

Shakedown theory for elastic plastic kinematic hardening bodies

Shakedown static and kinematic theorems for elastic–plastic (generally nonlinear) kinematic hardening solids are derived in classical (path-independence) spirit with new constructions. The generally plastic-deformation-history-dependent hardening curve is assumed to be limited by the initial yield stress and ultimate yield strength, and to obey a positive hysteresis postulate for closed plastic cycles, but else can be arbitrary and unspecified. The theorems reveal that the shakedown of structures is not affected by the particular form of the hardening curve, but just by the initial and ultimate yield stresses. While the ultimate yield strength is clearly defined macroscopically and attached to the incremental collapse mode with unbounded plastic deformations, the initial yield stress, which is responsible for the bounded cyclic plasticity collapse mode, should not be taken as the convenient one at a fixed amount of plastic deformation (0.2%), but is suggested to be taken as low as the fatigue limit to preserve the classical load-history-independence spirit of the shakedown theorems. Otherwise, for our pragmatic application purpose, it may be given empirical values between the low fatigue limit and high ultimate yield stresses according to particular loading processes considered, which may range anywhere between the high-cycle and low-cycle ones. The theorems appear as simple as those of Melan and Koiter for perfect plasticity but applied to the much larger class of more realistic kinematic hardening materials.     

ANALYSIS OF SHAKEDOWN OF FG BREE PLATE SUBJECTED TO COUPLED THERMAL-MECHANICAL LOADINGS

The static and kinematic shakedown of a functionally graded （FG） Bree plate is analyzed. The plate is subjected to coupled constant mechanical load and cyclically varying temperature. The material is assumed linearly elastic and nonlinear isotropic hardening with elastic modulus,yield strength and the thermal expansion coeffcient varying exponentially through the thickness of the plate. The boundaries between the shakedown area and the areas of elasticity,incremental collapse and reversed plasticity are determined,respectively. The shakedown of the counterpart made of homogeneous material with average material properties is also analyzed. The comparison between the results obtained in the two cases exhibits distinct qualitative and quantitative difference,indicating the importance of shakedown analysis for FG structures. Since FG structures are usually used in the cases where severe coupled cyclic thermal and mechanical loadings are applied,the approach developed and the results obtained are significant for the analysis and design of such kind of structures.     

Limit and shakedown analysis under hydrogen embrittlement condition

A modified shakedown theorem and its solving technique are presented to involve hydrogen embrittlement of steel into limit and shakedown analysis. Firstly, the shakedown theorem for hydrogen embrittled material is derived from a limited kinematic hardening shakedown theorem and hydrogen enhanced localized plasticity mechanism of hydrogen embrittlement. In the presented theorem, hydrogen’s effect is taken into account by the synergistic action of both strength reduction and stress redistribution. Secondly, a novel solving technique is developed based on the basis reduction method, in which the complicated constraints in the resulting nonlinear mathematical programming are released. At last, three numerical examples are carried out to verify the performance of the proposed method and to reveal hydrogen’s effect on the limit and shakedown load of structure. The numerical results are discussed and compared with those from literatures, which proves the accuracy and high efficiency of the introduced solving technique. It is concluded that the proposed theorem can predict the limit and shakedown load of hydrogen embrittled structure reasonably.     

A note on formulations of static shakedown analysis with bounded kinematic hardening

Two different formulations for the two-surface model of bounded kinematic hardening can be found in literature on shakedown analysis with the von Mises yield criterion. This short paper explains that these two formulations are not equivalent, although there exists literature asserting that they are equivalent. More specifically, the formulation using the constraint on the stress is not a sufficient condition for the two-surface model. Consequently, the static shakedown analysis using this formulation over-evaluates the shakedown factor in general.     

Performance of the MLPG method for static shakedown analysis for bounded kinematic hardening structures

Shakedown analysis is an extension of plastic limit analysis to the case of variable repeated loads and plays a significant role in safety assessment and structural design. This paper presents a solution procedure based on the meshless local Petrov–Galerkin (MLPG) method for lower-bound shakedown analysis of bounded kinematic hardening structures. The numerical implementation is very simple and convenient because it is only necessary to construct an array of nodes in the targeted domain. Moreover, the natural neighbour interpolation (NNI) is employed to construct trial functions for simplifying the imposition of essential boundary conditions. The kinematic hardening behaviour is simulated by an overlay model and the numerical difficulties caused by the time parameter are overcome by introducing the conception of load corner. The reduced-basis technique is applied to solve the mathematical programming iteratively through a sequence of reduced residual stress subspaces with very low dimensions and the resulting non-linear programming sub-problems are solved via the Complex method. Numerical examples demonstrate that the proposed solution procedure is feasible and effective to determine the shakedown loads of bounded kinematic hardening structures as well as unbounded kinematic hardening structures.     

Discussion of coupled elastoplasticity and damage constitutive equations for small and finite deformations

Three small deformation plasticity models taking into account isotropic damage effects are presented and discussed. The models are formulated in the context of irreversible thermody-namics and the internal state variable theory. They exhibit nonlinear isotropic and nonlinear kinematic hardening. The aim of the paper is first to give a comparative study of the three models with reference to homogeneous and inhomogeneous deformations by using a general damage law. Secondly, and this is the main objective of the paper, we generalize the constitutive models to finite deformations by applying a thermodynamical framework based on the Mandel stress tensor. The responses of the obtained finite deformation models are then discussed for loading processes with homogeneous deformations.     

Shakedown theorems for some classes of nonassociative hardening elastic-plastic material models

Criteria for quasistatic (elastic) shakedown are established by a static approach and discussed in the light of illustrative examples. Reference is made to elastoplastic solids either with nonassociative plastic flow rules or nonlinear hardening (governed by internal variables), or both. Nonassociativity, that is, lack of normality, is known to occur in the superposed spaces of stresses and strains for the constitutive models of materials with internal friction (like most geomaterials); it is shown also to manifest in the augmented space (of both measurable and internal variables) for realistically modelling a hardening behaviour of metals subjected to cyclic stressing processes. Lower and upper bounds on the shakedown limit derived for these materials from sufficient and necessary shakedown criteria, respectively, are distinct due to the nonassociativity. They suggest recourse to the notion of the reduced yield domain different from the conventional yield domain defined in the augmented space of static variables.     

A kinematic elastic nonshakedown theorem for implicit standard materials

Summary  Criteria for a priori recognition of the type of steady-state response induced by cyclic loads and prediction whether a structure will shakedown elastically or not, without the necessity of performing a step-by-step full analysis, have considerable importance. Melan and Koiter theorems provide criteria that guarantee whether elastic shakedown occurs or not under cyclic loads in case of perfect plasticity. However, there remain some aspects of the shakedown theory which deserve further study. One of these, concerned with more realistic nonassociative elastic–plastic constitutive material models, allowing for nonlinear kinematic and isotropic hardening suitable to describe the cyclic plastic behaviour of metallic materials, has strong motivation. Koiter's elastic nonshakedown theorem is reconsidered here, with the objective of extending it to the de Saxcé's implicit standard material class, which contains a wide class of nonassociative elastic–plastic material behaviours. Shakedown analysis is formulated by a kinematic approach based on the plastic accumulation mechanism concept due to Polizzotto. A sufficient condition for elastic nonshakedown and a distinct necessary condition are established. Then, an upper bound to the shakedown multiplier is evaluated. Received 15 February 2001; accepted for publication 18 October 2001     

A modified basis reduction method for limited kinematic hardening shakedown analysis under complex loads

A novel extension of the basis reduction method for kinematic hardening shakedown problem is presented. Firstly, the basis reduction method is implemented based on the modified Newton–Raphson (N-R) method. Then a new technique for the construction of back stress field is introduced, where the simultaneous influence of multiple load corners in shakedown is taken into consideration. Finally, two typical numerical examples are investigated. The results compared with previous works in literatures demonstrated that the proposed method is accurate and the performance in reducing of computation time is significant.     

Shape optimization for elasto-plastic deformation under shakedown conditions

An integrated approach for all necessary variations within direct analysis, variational design sensitivity analysis and shakedown analysis based on Melan’s static shakedown theorem for linear unlimited kinematic hardening material behavior is formulated. Using an adequate formulation of the optimization problem of shakedown analysis the necessary variations of residuals, objectives and constraints can be derived easily. Subsequent discretizations w.r.t. displacements and geometry using e.g. isoparametric finite elements yield the well known ‘tangent stiffness matrix’ and ‘tangent sensitivity matrix’, as well as the corresponding matrices for the variation of the Lagrangian-functional which are discussed in detail. Remarks on the computer implementation and numerical examples show the efficiency of the proposed formulation. Important effects of shakedown conditions in shape optimization with elasto-plastic deformations are highlighted in a comparison with elastic and elasto-plastic material behavior and the necessity of applying shakedown conditions when optimizing structures with elasto-plastic deformations is concluded.     

On shakedown of three-dimensional elastoplastic strain-hardening structures

The present article considers the shakedown problem of structures made of either kinematic or mixed strain-hardening materials. Some basic and useful shakedown properties of elastoplastic strain-hardening structures are proved mathematically. It is impossible for a kinematic strain-hardening structure to be involved in incremental plastic collapse, and so its only possible failure mode is that of alternating plasticity. A time-independent self-equilibrium stress field has no influence on the shakedown of a kinematic strain-hardening structure although it contributes to the magnitude of plastic deformation. The sufficient shakedown conditions for either kinematic or mixed strain-hardening structures are deduced, from which the lower bound of shakedown load domain can be obtained via a mathematical programming problem. It should be pointed out that, to guarantee the safety of an elastoplastic strain-hardening structure, the damage analysis is also necessary to determine the maximum load factor the structure can bear. The shakedown analysis of strain-hardening structures can be simplified by the conclusions obtained in this article, as is illustrated by two simple examples.     

Plastic yielding in cyclically loaded porous materials

The present paper focuses on plastic yielding of cyclically loaded porous materials. Unit cell models are employed to observe the evolution of the yield surface of porous materials under cyclic loading conditions. Non-linear isotropic as well as non-linear kinematic hardening matrix materials are considered. The yield surfaces computed with the unit cell models are compared to predictions of a micro-mechanical porous plasticity model that incorporates hardening. It is found that, in the case of kinematic hardening, the porous plasticity model underestimates the yield strength for larger hydrostatic stresses. An improvement of the model is proposed, so that a reasonable micro-mechanical approach to model porous materials under cyclic loadings is found.     

Plasticity with non-linear kinematic hardening: modelling and shakedown analysis by the bipotential approach

The class of generalised standard materials is not relevant to model the non-associative constitutive equations. The possible generalisation of Fenchel's inequality proposed by de Saxcé allows the recovery of flow rule normality for non-associative behaviours. The normality rule is written in the weak form of an implicit relation. This leads to the introduction of the class of implicit standard materials. This formulation is applied to constitutive equations involving non-linear kinematic hardening, indispensable to describe accurately and realistically the cyclic plasticity of metallic materials. For these plastic flow rules shakedown bound theorems can be extended; an analytical example of the shakedown of a thin-walled tube under constant traction and alternate cyclic torsion is considered and the obtained solution is proved to be exact.     

Ratchetting under tension–torsion loadings: experiments and modelling

This paper is concerned with the mechanical behaviour of 316 austenitic stainless steel under multiaxial loadings and particular attention is paid to ratchetting under tension–torsion non-proportional loadings. First, a series of uniaxial tests and biaxial tests has been carried out in order to calibrate five different cyclic plasticity models based on an isotropic hardening rule and a non-linear kinematic hardening rule. It is shown that this class of models gives quite good agreement between the experimental and numerical results. Second, another series of ratchetting tests has been carried out under tension–torsion loadings in order to test the prediction capacities of the previous models. It is shown that whereas the models have been calibrated with similar loading paths, four of the five selected models give poor predictions.     

A mathematical basis for strain-gradient plasticity theory. Part II: Tensorial plastic multiplier

A phenomenological, flow theory version of gradient plasticity for isotropic and anisotropic solids is constructed along the lines of Gudmundson [Gudmundson, P., 2004. A unified treatment of strain-gradient plasticity. J. Mech. Phys. Solids 52, 1379-1406]. Both energetic and dissipative stresses are considered in order to develop a kinematic hardening theory, which in the absence of gradient terms reduces to conventional J₂ flow theory with kinematic hardening. The dissipative stress measures, work-conjugate to plastic strain and its gradient, satisfy a yield condition with associated plastic flow. The theory includes interfacial terms: elastic energy is stored and plastic work is dissipated at internal interfaces, and a yield surface is postulated for the work-conjugate stress quantities at the interface. Uniqueness and extremum principles are constructed for the solution of boundary value problems, for both the rate-dependent and the rate-independent cases. In the absence of strain gradient and interface effects, the minimum principles reduce to the classical extremum principles for a kinematically hardening elasto-plastic solid. A rigid-hardening version of the theory is also stated and the resulting theory gives rise to an extension to the classical limit load theorems. This has particular appeal as previous trial fields for limit load analysis can be used to generate immediately size-dependent bounds on limit loads.     

Crystallographic plasticity in fretting of Ti–6AL–4V

The deformation occurring under fretting conditions occurs over length scales of the same order as the grain size. Consequently, the crystallographic orientation of the grains plays a significant role in the deformation response. The cyclic deformation response in the region experiencing fretting predicted by a crystal plasticity model is compared to prediction of an initially isotropic J₂ cyclic plasticity theory with nonlinear kinematic hardening. The crystal plasticity model provides enhanced understanding of the fretting fatigue process, especially with regard to the shakedown and ratchetting limits.     

Modeling aspects of low plastic strain amplitude multiaxial cyclic plasticity in conventional and ultrafine grain nickel

Aspects of the cyclically saturated responses of initially annealed, conventional grain size (average grain diameter of approximately 50 μm) and electrodeposited, ultrafine grain (grains from 20 to 500 nm) nickel to reversed proportional and 90° out-of-phase axial-torsional, strain-controlled cycling at a nominally constant equivalent inelastic strain amplitude of approximately 100 μ strain are reported. An anisotropic, axial-torsional subspace version of Abdel-Karim and Ohno’s kinematic hardening model is presented. Within the framework of conventional small strain, rate-independent plasticity, this approach is used to model the responses. An anhysteretic, phenomenolically based, magnetomechanical model is coupled to the rate-independent plasticity model to include the cyclic magnetostriction response. The kinematic hardening parameter determination scheme, using the proportional path responses, is described. The model correlations achieved are presented and the ability of the resulting models to capture the 90° out-of-phase responses is examined. The model parameter sets, as determined from the proportional responses, require small changes to result in more accurate correlation of the 90° out-of-phase responses and the implications of this are discussed. The relative values of the model parameters between the two materials reflect the initial microstructures. Persistent mean stresses associated with mean total strains imposed are successfully modeled for the proportional strain path responses but not for the 90° out-of-phase responses.