Finite deformations of elastic–plastic filamentary networks

Finite elastic–plastic deformation of a thin sheet formed by several families of perfectly flexible extensible fibers is described using an idealized theory in which the fibers are assumed to be continuously distributed to form a surface. The constitutive properties of the surface are deduced directly from those of the constituent fibers. The equilibrium equations are cast in rate form and associated rate potentials are derived. Physically plausible sufficient conditions for the existence of an exact dual extremum principle are proposed and used to prove uniqueness of solutions. Yielding and plastic flow criteria for individual fibers are given in a strain-space setting and adapted to model the elastic–plastic response of the sheet as a whole.     

Strain rate intensity factors for a plastic material layer compressed between cylindrical surfaces

For some models of rigid-plastic bodies, the strain rate fields turn out to be singular near the maximum friction surfaces. In particular, the equivalent strain rate (the second invariant of the strain rate tensor) tends to infinity when approaching such frictions surfaces. The coefficient multiplying the leading singular term in the series expansion of the equivalent strain rate near the maximum friction surfaces is called the strain rate intensity factor. This coefficient occurs in several models predicting the development of intensive plastic deformation layers near friction surfaces and in equations describing the change in the material structure in such layers. In the present paper, the solution is constructed for the compression of a layer of a plastic material obeying the double shear model between cylindrical surfaces on each of which the maximum friction law holds. The dependence of two strain rate intensity factors on the material and process parameters is calculated and analyzed.     

The Facet method: A hierarchical multilevel modelling scheme for anisotropic convex plastic potentials

An entirely new analytical expression describing plastic anisotropy is presented. It is designed to be used in combination with multilevel models. It makes use of the theory of dual plastic potentials, which is shortly revisited. An analysis of convexity is presented. Note that the new method is not optimal when not used in combination with a multilevel model; other methods are better suited for identification on the basis of mechanical test data. Compared with already existing methods which work with multilevel models, the new method has the following advantages: (i) it is automatically convex anywhere in the six-dimensional stress or strain rate space; (ii) it can be used for materials with a stress differential effect, such as hcp metals or pre-strained cubic materials; (iii) its identification procedure is such that not only the Taylor theory, but also more advanced theories, such as the Alamel-model or self-consistent models, can be used to identify the parameters; (iv) an analytical expression of the plastic potential can be obtained in both strain rate and stress space, which is an important advantage when implementing the model in finite element codes for metal forming. Equipotential surfaces in strain rate space and corresponding yield loci obtained by the new method for four materials (one ferrite single crystal, one aluminium alloy and two types of steel) are presented and discussed.     

Strain rate intensity factors for a plastic mass flow between two conical surfaces

The concept of strain rate intensity factor was introduced in [1], where the asymptotic expansion of the velocity field in a perfectly rigid-plastic material was obtained near the maximum friction surface, which is determined by the condition that the specific friction forces on this surface are equal to the simple shear yield strength. In particular, it was shown in this paper that near the maximum friction surface the equivalent strain rate (the second invariant of the strain rate tensor) tends to infinity inversely proportional to the square root of the distance to this surface. We note that the same result was obtained in the case of plane flow in [2]. The strain rate intensity factor is defined to be the coefficient of the leading singular number in the series expansion of the equivalent strain rate near the maximum friction surface. It was shown in [3] that there is a sufficiently complete formal analogy between the strain rate intensity factor and the stress intensity factor in mechanics of cracks [4]. In [5], it was suggested to use the concept of strain rate intensity factor to estimate the thickness of the layer near the friction surface where one should take into account viscosity effects. (Thus, this is an intensive strain layer formed as a result of a very large equivalent strain rate.) Therefore, the problem of calculating the strain rate intensity factor in specific processes is topical in the development of the general concept based on the use of the strain rate intensity factor and its applications in the theory of metal forming processes. These factors have already been calculated for several processes such as plane upsetting and drawing [3]. In the present paper, we calculate the distribution of the strain rate intensity factor in a plastic mass flow through an infinite converging channel formed by two conical surfaces on which the law of maximum friction acts (Fig. 1). A specific characteristic of this problem is the existence of two maximum friction surfaces and, accordingly, two distributions of the strain rate intensity factor. Since, according to the theory [5], the strain rate intensity factor is related to the thickness of the intensive strain layer near the friction surface, the solution of this problem may serve as a starting point for experimental confirmations of the theory. Note that the intensive strain layer thickness can be determined experimentally without any difficulties [6, 7] and the flow in an infinite channel of the shape under study can successfully model the tube drawing process [8].     

Study of plastic/viscoplastic models with various inelastic mechanisms

This paper describes a general framework for the development of plastic or viscoplastic constitutive equations. As the applications are focused on cyclic loadings, only small strains are considered, with an additive decomposition of the total strain into a thermo-elastic part, and several inelastic parts, the evolution of which is determined by several plastic or viscoplastic criteria. Quadratic or linear (crystallographic) criteria could be used, so that the approach is able to describe the contribution of several physical levels, or deformation mechanism, to the inelastic behavior. The present work is restricted to the case of quadratic criteria, and specially to the study of the various interactions which can be introduced between the mechanisms. The most important case is the coupling between kinematic hardening variables which allows to describe: (1) either normal rate sensitivity or inverse rate sensitivity; (2) plasticity-creep interaction; (3) ratcheting for high mean stress but either adaptation or plastic shakedown for lower mean stress.     

Roles of plastic spin in shear banding

In this paper, the effects of plastic spin on shear banding and simple shear are examined systematically. Three types of plastic constitutive model with plastic spin are considered: (i) a non-coaxial model in which the direction of the plastic strain rate depends on that of the stress rate; (ii) a strain-softening model based on the J₂ flow theory; and (iii) the pressure-sensitive porous plasticity model. All the constitutive models are formulated in viscoplastic forms and in conjunction with non-local concepts that have been recently focused and discussed. First, behavior in simple shear is examined by numerical analysee with the aforementioned constitutive models. Moreover, some experimental evidences for stress response to simple shear are shown; that is, several large torsion tests of metal tubes and bars are carried out. Next, finite element simulations of shear banding in plane strain tension are performed. A critical effect of plastic spin on shear banding is observed for the noncoaxial model, while an almost negligible effect is observed for the porous model. The identical effects of plastic spin are observed, whether nonlocality exists or not. Finally, we discuss the relationship between the behavior in simple shear and the shear band formation. It is emphasized that this is a critical issue in predicting shear banding in macroscopic grounds.     

Experimental evidence of macroscopic plastic flow nonhomogeneity development in uniaxial tensile test samples

An experimental study of the macroscopic plastic flow nonhomogeneity in the course of a uniaxial tensile test is conducted on several aluminum alloys, nickel and 4340 steel. It was observed that the plastic flow initiates throughout the entire gage length in a nonuniform fashion, so that the growth of the deformation in the middle of the gage is faster than it is at the edges. That initial strain rate gradient almost disappeared shortly after its evolution, and the strain rate through the entire gage length became about uniform. The plastic flow nonuniformity emerged again upon further stretching, producing a gradual acceleration in the middle of the gage with corresponding slowdown toward the edges. That final development of the strain rate gradient commenced well in advance of the load maxima and was the cause of the consequent neck formation in the middle portion of the gage. It is demonstrated that the origin of plastic flow nonhomogeneity stemmed from the second elastic strain component in the transverse direction and its gradient evolution along the reduced section upon loading. It is found empirically that acceleration in the strain rate in the middle part of the reduced section was accompanied by a reduction in the apparent strainhardening exponent,n, calculated from the stress/strain chart. The maxima in the apparent strain-hardening exponent,n, obtained from the common stress/strain charts can be used to indicate the strain rate gradient onset.     

Thermal softening induced plastic instability in rate-dependent materials

A linear perturbation analysis is performed for a class of rate-dependent materials, such as the Johnson-Cook model, in which the rate contribution to the stress can be separated from that of the plastic strain and temperature and in which the temperature rises adiabatically. The analysis is facilitated by perturbing both the rate of momentum equation and the momentum equation. An identical material stability/instability criterion is deduced from the characteristic spectral equations for one-dimensional deformation, one-dimensional shearing, and general three-dimensional field equations, and thus shows that the instability derived here is a material constitutive instability.The criteria indicate that the materials become unstable once the thermal softening overcomes the strain hardening, regardless of the strain rate. The strain rate enters the criteria through its effects on the accumulated temperature and the current stress. Based on the criterion, the three-dimensional instability surface is established in the space of plastic strain, plastic strain rate, and temperature. Instability surface is shown as a material property and independent of deformation histories or modes. Both necking and shear banding are simulated to validate the excellent predictive capability of the criterion.     

On the control of deformation process by plastic strain

The incremental relations are derived between stress rate and the second order plastic strain rate (or plastic strain path curvature). Such relations could be used in setting control of the deformation process by plastic strain either in an experimental test or in numerical procedure, especially when critical and post-critical states occur for stress or strain control.     

Analysis of diffuse plastic stability in tubes and sheets

The diffuse plastic instability in tubes and sheets under biaxial stress conditions is examined by the use of perturbation methods. Very general constitutive relationships for material properties are used. This requires the inclusion of first order changes in the strain directions inside the patch and also treatment of the material anisotropy and strain rate sensitivity in addition to strain hardening. The inclusion of variations in strain direction is found to alter the form of the characteristic equation for stability from first order to second order but both roots are real for all cases investigated. The value of strain hardening at which the largest root becomes significantly positive is almost the same as that reached when changes in strain directors are ignored. However the strain hardening at which this root becomes formally zero can be very different. The former condition is considered to be of more practical importance than the latter. By this test the stability increases rapidly above a strain rate sensitivity of about 0.1.     

Instrumentation to control strain rate for materials undergoing plastic flow

An instrument is described which controls the head velocity and, therefore, the strain rate of specimens tested in electromechanical universal testing machines. Within the available speed limits of these machines, a predetermined strain rate is achieved by automatic adjustment of a variable resistance in the speed-control circuit. This adjustment is achieved by coupling a potentiometer to the crosshead movement with a cam. An exact mathematical solution is derived for general cam profiles which give either nondecreasing or nonincreasing strain rates. Numerical results are presented for cams which achieve constant true strain rate in tensile and compression testing. For these cases, instrument calibration curves and tensile stress-strain curves for iron at room temperature are presented.     

A plastic constitutive equation incorporating strain,strain-rate,and temperature

An empirical plasticity constitutive form describing the flow stress as a function of strain, strain-rate, and temperature has been developed, fit to data for three dual-phase (DP) steels, and compared with independent experiments outside of the fit domain. Dubbed the “H/V model” (for “Hollomon/Voce”), the function consists of three multiplicative functions describing (a) strain hardening, (b) strain-rate sensitivity, and (c) temperature sensitivity. Neither the multiplicative structure nor the choice of functions (b) or (c) is novel. The strain hardening function, (a), has two novel features: (1) it incorporates a linear combination coefficient, α, that allows representation of Hollomon (power law) behavior (α = 1), Voce (saturation) behavior (α = 0) or any intermediate case (0 < α < 1, and (2) it allows incorporation of the temperature sensitivity of strain hardening rate in a natural way by allowing α to vary with temperature (in the simplest case, linearly). This form therefore allows a natural transition from unbounded strain hardening at low temperatures toward saturation behavior at higher temperatures, consistent with many observations. Hollomon, Voce, H/V models and others selected as representative from the literature were fit for DP590, DP780, and DP980 steels by least-squares using a series of tensile tests up to the uniform strain conducted over a range of temperatures. Jump-rate tests were used to probe strain rate sensitivity. The selected laws were then used with coupled thermo-mechanical finite element (FE) modeling to predict behavior for tests outside the fit range: non-isothermal tensile tests beyond the uniform strain at room temperatures, isothermal tensile tests beyond the uniform strain at several temperatures and hydraulic bulge tests at room temperature. The agreement was best for the H/V model, which captured strain hardening at high strain accurately as well as the variation of strain hardening with temperature. The agreement of FE predictions up to the tensile failure strain illustrates the critical role of deformation-induced heating in high-strength/high ductility alloys, the importance of having a constitutive model that is accurate at large strains, and the implication that damage and void growth are unlikely to be determinant factors in the tensile failure of these alloys. The new constitutive model may have application for a wide range of alloys beyond DP steels, and it may be extended to larger strain rate and temperature ranges using alternate forms of strain rate sensitivity and thermal softening appearing in the literature.     

Spatiotemporally inhomogeneous plastic flow of a bulk-metallic glass

With geometrically-constrained specimens, the spatiotemporally inhomogeneous deformation of a Zr-based bulk-metallic glass in uniaxial, quasistatic, compression was investigated. Decreasing the height/width ratio of specimens from 2 to 0.5 significantly increases the plastic strain from 2% to about 80%. Using an infrared camera, we first observe in situ dynamic shear-banding operations during compression at various strain rates. The shear banding is highly dependent on strain rates, either intermittent at the lower strain rate or successive at the higher strain rate. Scanning electron microscopy observations show the spatiality of the rate-dependent shear banding. The serrated plastic flow is a result of the shear-banding operations. At the lower strain rate, more simultaneous shear-banding operations result in more obvious serrations, while at the higher strain rate, fewer simultaneous shear-banding operations cause less obvious serrations.     

Elastic–plastic ductile damage model based on strain-rate plastic potential

Modeling of ductile damage is generally done using analytical potentials, which are expressed in the stress space. In this paper, for the first time it is shown that strain-rate potentials which are exact conjugate of the stress-based potentials can be instead used to model the dilatational response of porous polycrystals. A new integration algorithm is also developed. It is to be noted that a strain-rate based formulation is most appropriate when the plastic flow of the matrix is described by a criterion that involves dependence on all stress invariants. In such cases, although a strain-rate potential is known, the stress-based potential cannot be obtained explicitly. While the proposed framework based on strain-rate potentials is general, for comparison purposes in this work we present an illustration of the approach for the case of a porous solid with von Mises matrix containing randomly distributed spherical cavities. Comparison between simulations using the strain-rate based approach and the classical stress-based Gurson's criterion in uniaxial tension is presented. These results show that the model based on a strain-rate potential predicts the dilatational response with the same level of accuracy.     

The strain-rate effect and the incremental plastic wave in copper

An experimental investigation was conducted to determine the degree of sensitivity of commerically pure copper to strain rate and to note the effect of this sensitivity on the velocity of propagation of shearing strain in copper. Thin-walled cylindrical specimens of copper were loaded in torsion to eliminate the effects of radial inertia. All specimens were annealed and then cold worked in torsion to obtain necessary specimen uniformity. Quasi-static tests were performed on short-length specimens to determine the shearing stress-strain curve of copper at a very low strain rate. The strain-rate sensitivity of copper at low strain rates, from 3×10^?4/sec to 5/sec, was tested by loading short specimens at a very slow continuous rate and then suddenly increasing the strain rate. A quasi-static test was also performed to determine the effect of creep on prestressed copper. Dynamic tests involving strain rates up to 500/sec were performed on long specimens with a torsional impact machine. Specimens were tested under stress-free and prestressed initial conditions. The prestressed specimen was loaded at a slow, continuous rate before impact to avoid the undesirable effects of creep which would have occurred with a static preload. Results from the quasi-static tests showed that copper is noticeably sensitive to strain rate in the low strain-rate regions, but that the sensitivity becomes almost constant as the strain rate is increased. Results from the dynamic tests showed that large strains propagated at speeds which agreed well with speeds predicted by the strain-rate-independent theory of plastic-wave propagation. The lower-level strains in the prestressed specimen, however, propagated at much higher speeds than are predicted by the strain-rate independent. Because radial-inertia effects were not present, this discrepancy in measured and predicted speeds for low-level strains must be due to the strain-rate sensitivity of copper.     

位移加载条件下微小尺寸单晶金属的应变突变模型及其间歇性塑性变形行为研究

微压缩实验发现,微小尺度单晶金属柱体在塑性变形过程中会发生显著的应变突变,呈现出特殊的间歇性塑性流动特征。本文以数百纳米直径的单晶Au柱体为研究对象,探讨其在位移加载条件下的间歇性流动行为。首先根据位移加载条件下的塑性变形特征,提出了分析其应变突变的三阶段模型。进一步结合经典晶体塑性理论框架的有限元方法,建立了以二阶功参量为基础的连续塑性力学模型。通过与实验结果相对比发现,新模型能够较好地描述位移加载条件下微小尺度面心立方单晶金属材料的应变突变现象,能够合理预测单晶柱体的特殊变形行为。此外,二阶功准则作为位移加载条件下应变突变现象的判据是有效的。进而使用该理论模型,探讨了微小金属柱体应变突变随机性、尺寸相关性以及率敏感性等问题。     

Evolution of plastic anisotropy in amorphous polymers during finite straining

The large strain deformation response of amorphous polymers results primarily from orientation of the molecular chains within the polymeric material during plastic straining. Molecular network orientation is a highly anisotropic process, thus the observed mechanical response is strongly a function of the anisotropic state of these materials. Through mechanical testing and material characterization, the nature of the evolution of molecular orientation under different conditions of state of strain is developed. The role of developing anisotropy on the mechanical response of these materials is discussed in the context of assessing the capabilities of several models to predict the state of deformation-dependent response. A three-dimensional rubber elasticity spring system that is capable of capturing the state of deformation dependence of strain hardening is used to develop a tensorial internal state variable model of the evolving anisotropic polymer response. This fully three-dimensional constitutive model is shown to be successfully predictive of the true stress vs. true strain data obtained in our isothermal uniaxial compression and plane strain compression experiments on amorphous polycarbonate (PC) and polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) at moderate strain rates. A basis is established for providing the polymer designer with the ability to predict the flow strengths and deformation patterns of highly anisotropic materials. A companion paper by Arruda, Boyce, and Quintus-Bosz [in press] shows how the model developed herein is used to predict various anisotropic aspects of the large strain mechanical response of preoriented materials. Additional work has been done to extend the model to include the effects of strain rate and temperature in Arruda, Jayachandran, and Boyce [in press].     

On dimensionless numbers for dynamic plastic response of structural members

Summary A dimensional analysis is reported for the dynamic plastic response and failure of structural members, which includes material strain hardening, strain rate and temperature effects. Critical shear failure conditions are also discussed based on the dimensional analysis results. It is shown that the response number R _n proposed in [3], is an important independent dimensionless number for the dynamic plastic bending and membrane response of structural members. However, additional dimensionless numbers are necessary when transverse shear, strain hardening, strain rate, and temperature effects are important. Received 22 February 1999; accepted for publication 15 June 1999