Unified elastoplastic finite difference and its application

Two elastoplastic constitutive models based on the unified strength theory (UST) are established and implemented in an explicit finite difference code, fast Lagrangian analysis of continua (FLAC/FLAC3D), which includes an associated/non-associated flow rule, strain-hardening/softening, and solutions of singularities. Those two constitutive models are appropriate for metallic and strength-different (SD) materials, respectively. Two verification examples are used to compare the computation results and test data using the two-dimensional finite difference code FLAC and the finite element code ANSYS, and the two constitutive models proposed in this paper are verified. Two application examples, the large deformation of a prismatic bar and the strain-softening behavior of soft rock under a complex stress state, are analyzed using the three-dimensional code FLAC3D. The two new elastoplastic constitutive models proposed in this paper can be used in bearing capacity evaluation or stability analysis of structures built of metallic or SD materials. The effect of the intermediate principal stress on metallic or SD material structures under complex stress states, including large deformation, three-dimensional and non-association problems, can be analyzed easily using the two constitutive models proposed in this paper.