Some new extensions to multi-mechanism models for plastic and viscoplastic material behavior under small strains

Multi-mechanism models (MM models) have become an important tool for modeling complex material behavior. In particular, two-mechanism models are used. They are applied to model ratcheting in metal plasticity as well as steel behavior during phase transformations. We consider a small-deformation setting. The characteristic trait of multi-mechanism models is the additive decomposition of the inelastic (e.g., plastic or viscoplastic) strain into several parts. These parts are sometimes called mechanisms. In comparison with rheological models, the mechanisms can interact with each other. This leads to new properties and allows to describe important observable effects. Up to now, each mechanism has one kinematic internal variable. As a new feature, we develop multi-mechanism models (in series) with several kinematic variables for each mechanism as well as with several isotropic variables for each flow criterion. We describe this complex situation by three structural matrices which express the mutual relations between mechanisms, flow criteria, kinematic, and isotropic variables. The well-known Chaboche model with a unique inelastic strain and several kinematic variables represents a special case of these general multi-mechanism models. In this work, we also present a matrix-based approach for these new complex MM models. The presented models can form the basis for developing numerical algorithms for simulation and parameter identification.     

Thermo-viscoelastic and viscoplastic behavior of high-density polyethylene

Observations are reported on high-density polyethylene in uniaxial tensile tests with constant strain rates and relaxation tests at various temperatures ranging from 25 to 90 °C. A constitutive model is derived for the nonlinear viscoelastic and viscoplastic behavior of semi-crystalline polymers at three-dimensional deformations. Adjustable parameters in the stress–strain relations are found by fitting the experimental data. It is demonstrated that (i) the model correctly approximates the observations and (ii) material parameters are independent of strain rate and change consistently with temperature.     

A model for high temperature creep of single crystal superalloys based on nonlocal damage and viscoplastic material behavior

A model for high temperature creep of single crystal superalloys is developed, which includes constitutive laws for nonlocal damage and viscoplasticity. It is based on a variational formulation, employing potentials for free energy, and dissipation originating from plasticity and damage. Evolution equations for plastic strain and damage variables are derived from the well-established minimum principle for the dissipation potential. The model is capable of describing the different stages of creep in a unified way. Plastic deformation in superalloys incorporates the evolution of dislocation densities of the different phases present. It results in a time dependence of the creep rate in primary and secondary creep. Tertiary creep is taken into account by introducing local and nonlocal damage. Herein, the nonlocal one is included in order to model strain localization as well as to remove mesh dependence of finite element calculations. Numerical results and comparisons with experimental data of the single crystal superalloy LEK94 are shown.     

Hydraulic impact of “exponential” and nonlinearly viscoplastic media in pipes made of a viscoplastic material

Differential equations are derived and the hydraulic impact process for “exponential” and nonlinearly viscoplastic media in pipes made of a viscoelastic material is analyzed. Hydraulic impact problems for actual media in pipes has been repeatedly treated in the literature [1–4]. The hydraulic impact of a viscous and linearly viscoplastic media in pipes made of an elastic and viscoelastic material was studied in this work. It is well known [5] that many media in the region of low and moderate shear rates reveal a nonlinearity of the flow curve (oil, drilling fluids, polymer solutions and melts, loaded fuels, fuel mixtures, blood, etc.). It should be noted that flexible pipes made of natural materials (pipe boreholes made of polymer materials, membranes of blood vessels, etc.) are described by complicated rheological equations of state for viscoelastic media. Thus a calculation of the influence of nonlinearity of these media and of the viscoelastic properties of the pipe material on the hydraulic impact process is of theoretical and practical interest in many engineering problems.     

Observation and modeling of the anisotropic visco-hyperelastic behavior of a rubberlike material

The visco-hyperelastic behavior of a filled rubberlike material has been studied experimentally by large deformation cyclic uniaxial loadings, and an anisotropy induced by the Mullins effect has been demonstrated. By applying a generalized Maxwell model to a set of material directions, damage could be included in order to reproduce the stress softening due to the Mullins effect. This induces also an anisotropic mechanical response, and the model compares favorably with the experimental measures.     

Experimental investigation and modeling of non-monotonic creep behavior in polymers

The deformation behavior of two unfilled engineering thermoplastics, ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) and polycarbonate (PC), has been investigated in creep test conditions. It has been found that a loading history (prior to the creep test) comprising of loading to a maximum stress or strain value followed by partial unloading to arrive at the target stress value can greatly modify the strain-time behavior. Under such a test protocol, while the expected increase in strain during creep (constant tensile load) is observed, at relatively low creep stresses specimens have also demonstrated a monotonic decrease in strain. In an intermediate stress range, specimens have demonstrated time dependent behavior comprising of a transition from decreasing to increasing strain during creep in tension. This paper presents experimental results to delineate these findings and explore the effect of prior strain rate on the qualitative and quantitative changes in the output (strain-time) behavior. Furthermore, modification of the viscoplasticity theory based on overstress (VBO) model into a double element configuration is introduced. These changes confer upon the model the ability to yield non-monotonic behavior in creep, and supporting simulation results have been included. These changes, therefore, allow the model to simulate strain rate sensitivity, creep, relaxation, and recovery behavior, but more importantly address the issue of non-monotonic changes in creep and relaxation when a loading history involves some degree of unloading.     

Characteristics of a viscoplastic material in the couette flow

A model governing a steady flow of a viscoplastic material between coaxial cylinders is proposed. Nonlinear velocity sensitivity typical of superplastic materials is taken into account. An algorithm of calculating the characteristics of the material is developed. The algorithm is based on the experimental data on moments and angular velocities of the rotating coaxial cylinders. The stability of the algorithm to errors in the initial data is estimated.     

The flow of viscoplastic material between two concentric spheres

The motion of a viscoplastic medium between two concentric spheres is considered upon rotation of one sphere with constant angular velocity. This problem is solved by an heuristic iterative method. The boundary of the stagnation zones is found and its specific shape is shown. The flow characteristics versus the parameter of the medium are obtained. Voronezh State Engineering Academy, Voronezh 394017. Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 40, No. 1, pp. 133–139, January–February, 1999.     

Problems and trends in mathematical modeling

Main problems and trends in mathematical modeling — a new line of research into various processes and phenomena — are formulated. The status and future prospects are analyzed using as an example the mechanics of continuous media. Emphasis is on two stages of modeling — the selection of physicomathematical models of the mechanics of continuous media and numerical algorithms of solution.     

Experimental analysis and modeling of biaxial mechanical behavior of woven composite reinforcements

This paper presents experimental studies on the mechanical behavior of fiber fabrics using a biaxial tensile device based on two deformable parallelograms. The cross-shaped specimens are well adapted to fabrics because of their lack of shear stiffness. Tension versus deformation curves, for different strain ratios, are obtained in the case of composite woven reinforcements used in aeronautic applications. It is shown that the tensile behavior of the fabric is strongly nonlinear due to the weaving undulations and the yarn contraction, and that the phenomenon is clearly biaxial. A constitutive model is described and identified from the experimental data. The essential role played by the yarn crushing will be pointed out.     

On the elastic–viscoplastic behavior of nanocrystalline materials

A new constitutive law is introduced to quantify the macroscopic effect of grain boundary dislocation emission on the behavior of pure face center cubic nanocrystalline materials. It is postulated that an emitted dislocation ends its trajectory in the grain boundary opposite to the source causing mass transfer. Dislocation emission by grain boundary ledges, considered here as the primary grain-boundary sources, is modeled as a thermally activated mechanism and the penetration of an emitted dislocation is assimilated as a soft collision. The macroscopic behavior of the material is retrieved via the use of a secant self-consistent scheme. The material is seen as a two-phase composite where the inclusion phase represents grain cores, their behavior is driven by dislocation glide, and where the matrix phase, governed by the newly introduced dislocation emission and penetration mechanism, represents both grain boundaries and triple junctions. The long range stress field arising from the presence of grain boundaries is taken into account in the critical glide resistance stress at 0 K in the inclusion phase. The model is applied to polycrystal copper and results in pure tension and creep are compared to experiments. Good agreements between the experimental measurements and the model predictions are observed.     

Realistic mathematical modeling of the rattleback

The rattleback (also called a Celt or wobblestone) is an object which, when placed on a horizontal surface and caused to rotate about a vertical axis, sometimes begins to oscillate, stops turning, and then starts rotating in the direction opposite to that associated with the original motion. Earlier analyses dealing with this phenomenon have been based on a variety of assumptions. In the present work, it is shown by means of numerical solutions of full, non-linear equations of motion that one can construct a realistic mathematical model by assuming rolling without slipping and employing a torque proportional to angular velocity to provide for energy dissipation.     

Comparison of the unloading and reversed loading behavior of three viscoplastic constitutive theories

The predictions of three constitutive theories of viscoplasticity are compared in uniaxial homogeneous reversed loading. Previously each theory has been fitted to the same set of tensile data (E.P. Cernocky, Technical Report, University of Colorado, 1981), and here both analytical and numerical methods are used to highlight similarities and differences in the predictions of the theories.None of the theories use yield surfaces, and unloading is shown to be both inelastic and rate-dependent. Suitable combinations of strain- (stress-) rates are shown to produce unloading which appears elastic. Relaxation is examined in the unloading region, and the responses of the theories are shown to be qualitatively different. A bias is shown to exist between each theory's prediction in stress- and strain- control. A new cyclic test is demonstrated which highlights differences in the history-dependence modeled by the theories, and they are shown to have different memories for the same prior plastic deformations.     

Second-order theory for the effective behavior and field fluctuations in viscoplastic polycrystals

A recently developed “second-order” homogenization procedure (Ponte Castañeda (J. Mech. Phys. Solids 50 (2002a, b) 737, 759)) is extended to viscoplastic polycrystals and applied to compute the effective response of a certain special class of isotropic polycrystals. The method itself reduces to a simple expression requiring the computation of the averages of the stress field and the covariances of its fluctuations over the various grain orientations in an optimally selected “linear comparison polycrystal”. Therefore, the method not only allows the determination of the effective behavior of the polycrystal, but as a byproduct also yields information on the heterogeneity of the stress and strain-rate fields within the polycrystal. An application is given for a model 2-dimensional, isotropic polycrystal with power-law behavior for the constituent grains. The resulting predictions for the effective behavior are found to satisfy sharp bounds available from the literature and to be consistent with the results of recent numerical simulations. The associated averages and fluctuations of the stresses and strain rates are found to depend strongly on the strain-rate sensitivity (i.e., nonlinearity) and grain anisotropy. In particular, the stress and strain-rate fluctuations were found to grow and become strongly anisotropic with increasing values of the nonlinearity and grain anisotropy parameters.     

Immiscible Newtonian displacement by a viscoplastic material in a capillary plane channel

The immiscible displacement in a capillary plane channel of a Newtonian liquid by a viscoplastic one that obeys a Papanastasiou’s constitutive equation is numerically analyzed. An elliptic mesh generation technique, coupled with the Galerkin finite element method is used to determine the velocity field and the configuration of the interface between the two materials. We investigate the displacement efficiency and the flow patterns of the problem as functions of the dimensionless parameters that govern the problem: the capillary number (Ca), the viscosity ratio of the two fluids (N _η ) and the yield number, (τ′₀). The numerical results showed that for a fixed viscosity ratio, the fraction of mass attached to the wall is a decreasing function of τ′₀. We constructed maps of streamlines in the Cartesian space defined by τ′₀ and Ca for fixed viscosity ratios in order to capture the rough location of bypass and recirculating flow regimes. Higher yield number values induce bypass flow regimes, especially for high Ca. The dimensionless forms of the momentum conservation equation and the force balance at the interface were essential for the understanding of the role played by the dimensionless numbers that govern the problem.