A FE formulation for elasto-plastic materials with planar anisotropic yield functions and plastic spin

In this article a stress integration algorithm for shell problems with planar anisotropic yield functions is derived. The evolution of the anisotropy directions is determined on the basis of the plastic and material spin. It is assumed that the strains inducing the anisotropy of the pre-existing preferred orientation are much larger than subsequent strains due to further deformations. The change of the locally preferred orientations to each other during further deformations is considered to be neglectable. Sheet forming processes are typical applications for such material assumptions. Thus the shape of the yield function remains unchanged. The size of the yield locus and its orientation is described with isotropic hardening and plastic and material spin. The numerical treatment is derived from the multiplicative decomposition of the deformation gradient and thermodynamic considerations in the intermediate configuration. A common formulation of the plastic spin completes the governing equations in the intermediate configuration. These equations are then pushed forward into the current configuration and the elastic deformation is restricted to small strains to obtain a simple set of constitutive equations. Based on these equations the algorithmic treatment is derived for planar anisotropic shell formulations incorporating large rotations and finite strains. The numerical approach is completed by generalizing the Return Mapping algorithm to problems with plastic spin applying Hill's anisotropic yield function. Results of numerical simulations are presented to assess the proposed approach and the significance of the plastic spin in the deformation process. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.