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167
CHAPTER 17


PLASTICITY. THE FINITE ELEMENT APPROACH

17.1 INTRODUCTION

The structural plastic behavior is described by the presence of irrecoverable
strains on load removal. This is equivalent to a non-unique stress - strain
relationship, which is also path-dependent. The plasticity theory provides
mathematical relationships that characterize the elastic-plastic response of
materials. For rate-independent plasticity (i.e. when loading or unloading
velocity is neglected), the mathematical background has three main features:
the yield criterion, the flow rule and the hardening rule.

Fig. 17.1 Elastic plastic material behavior

The yield criterion determines the stress level at which yielding is initiated.
For multi-component stresses, this is represented as a function of the
individual components and a "hardening" parameter p:

( ) 0 = p , F (17.1)

The yield criterion can be visualized as a surface in the n-dimensional space
of stresses, while the position of the surface depends on the state parameter
p. For any stress state inside the surface, ( ) 0 < p , F and the material has an

( )
p
y y
=
p

y
< - linear-elastic
- non unique stress-strain relationship
y
>
E

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168
elastic behavior (no plastic strains occur for
y
< in figure 17.1). For
stress levels beyond
y
, ( ) 0 = p , F during plastic deformation and
irrecoverable strains
p
occur.

Some typical examples of yielding criteria used for modeling the non-linear
behavior of materials involved in civil engineering are the Tresca and von
Mises criteria, usually applied for metal (steel) plasticity and the Mohr-
Coulomb or the Ducker-Prager criteria, applied for granular-frictional
materials as soil, earth and rock-fill. Special yielding criteria are also
defined for materials as concrete or reinforced concrete, oriented stratified
rock masses and others.

Fig. 17.2 Plastic region expansion drawn in the space of principal stresses

The Tresca yielding surface is defined by the following relationship

( ) 0 2
2
= = p cos I F
y
(17.2)
with ( ) ( ) ( )
2
1
2 2 2 2 2 2
2
3 3 3
2
1
2
1
2
1
(

+ + + + + =
yz xz xy z y z x y x
I
the second stress invariant and
|
|
.
|

\
|
=

2
3 1
2
3 3
3
1
I
I
sin the Londe angle,
where
3
I is the third invariant and ( ) p
y
the yielding stress. The
1

0 < F
elastic
behavior
p
d ( ) 0
2 1
= p , , F
( ) 0
2 1
= + p p , , F
' '


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169
relationship defines a prismatic-shape surface in the principal stresses
coordinate system (see figure 17.3.a).


Fig. 17.3 Graphic representations on yield criteria in 3D space of principal
stresses a. Tresca; b. Von Misses

The von Mises criterion is a simplified version of the previous one, defined
by

( ) 0 3
2
= = p I F
y
(17.3)

and represents a cylindrical surface in the principal stresses coordinate
system.

The Mohr-Coulomb criterion is based on the shear resistance parameters,
the cohesion c and the angle of internal friction , both as functions of the
hardening parameter p. The yielding surface is defined by

0
3 3
1
2
2 1
= + = cos c sin sin
I
cos I sin I F , (17.4)

a hexahedral pyramid in the principal stresses coordinate system (see figure
17.4.a), where ( )
3 2 1 1
3
1
+ + = I is the first stresses invariant.
1

. a
. b

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170

Fig. 17.4 Graphic representations on yield criteria in 3D space of principal
stresses a. Mohr-Coulomb; b. Drucker-Prager

The Drucker-Prager criterion is an approximation of the Mohr-Coulomb
criterion, a cone inscribed in the hexahedral pyramid. The yielding surface
is defined by

0
2 1
= + = K I I F (17.5)

with
( )

sin
sin

=
3 3
2
and
( )

sin
cos c
K

=
3 3
6
.

The flow rule determines the direction of plastic straining once the plastic
stage of behavior is reached ( ( ) 0 = p , F ). Specifying a "plastic potential"

( ) p , Q Q = , (17.6)

the plastic strains are defined as

=
Q
d
p
(17.7)

1

3
2
1

=
=
3
2
1

=
=

c
t
g
3

c
t
g
3
. a
. b

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171
where is a plastic multiplier which determines the amount of plastic
straining and Q a function of stress which determines the direction of plastic
straining. If Q is (equals) the yield function F (as it is normally assumed),
the flow rule is termed associative and the plastic strains occur in a direction
normal to the yield surface. The condition Q = F is also known as the
normality principle because

=
F
can be interpreted as the normality of
the plastic strain increment on the yield surface.

The hardening rule describes the changing of the yield surface with
progressive yielding, so that the conditions (i.e. the stress states) for
subsequent yielding can be established. Two hardening rules are usually
available: the isotropic hardening and the kinematic hardening. In isotropic
hardening, the yield surface remains centered about its initial centerline and
expands in size as the plastic strains develop. The isotropic hardening is
shown in figure 17.5.a. Kinematic hardening assumes that the yield surface
remains constant in size and the surface moves in the stress space with
progressive yielding, as shown in figure 17.5.b.



Fig. 17.5 Graphic representations of the hardening rule


2

a. Isotropic hardening
b. Kinematic hardening
Initial yield
surface
Subsequent
yield surface
Initial yield
surface
Subsequent
yield surface

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172
17.2 THE ELASTIC-PLASTIC MATRIX

The relationship between the stress field and the total (elastic and plastic)
strain field can be expressed by a new matrix
ep
E , which, by analogy with
the elasticity matrix E is called the elastic-plastic matrix.

During an infinitesimal increment of stress, the strain changes are assumed
to be divisible into elastic
e
d and plastic
p
d components:

p e
d d d + = (17.8)

The elastic strain increment is related to the stress increment by means of
the elasticity matrix E d d
e 1
= , while the plastic strain increment is given
by the flow rule:

a

=
Q
d
p
(17.9)
where
(
(

=
yz y x
T
Q
...
Q Q

a (17.10)

Separating the elastic strain increment and substituting in the elasticity
relationship, the stress increment becomes

p e
d d d = (17.11)
( ) a E = d d (17.12)

During the plastic flow the stresses correspond to the yielding surface which
modifies itself according to the hardening parameter p. This condition can
be written as follows: if ( ) 0 = p , F then ( ) 0 = + + dp p , d F , or, in
explicit form

0 =

+ +

= dp
p
F
... d
F
d
F
dF
y
y
x
x

(17.13)


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173
Introducing the vectors b and c,

(
(

=
yz y x
T
F
...
F F

b and
p
F

= c

the yielding condition in condensed form is:

0 = + dp d
T
c b (17.14)

For isotropic hardening, the hardening parameter variation dp depends on
the plastic strain increment
p
d , for instance

p T
p , y y p , x x
d ... d d dp = + + = (17.15)

which can be considered as the increment of the plastic work.

Substituting d and dp in the yielding condition, the plastic multiplier
can be calculated:

( ) 0 a c a E b = +
T T
d (17.16)
a c Ea b
E b
T T
T
d

= (17.17)

Substituting (17.17) in (17.12), an explicit relationship between the stress
increment and the total strain increment can be withdrawn:

E d d
ep
= (17.18)
where:
|
|
.
|

\
|

=
a c Ea b
Ea b
E E
T T
T
ep
1 (17.19)

Remarks:

1. The elastic-plastic matrix is a function of the stress level, ) ( f
ep
E = .

Chapter 17 Plasticity. The Finite Element Approach_______________________________


174
2. For ideal plasticity 0 =

p
F
, that means 0 c = and the strains are
undefined.
3. For associated plasticity F = Q and a b; consequently, the elastic-
plastic matrix is symmetric.
4. For Q F the elastic-plastic matrix is unsymmetrical and consequently
the stiffness matrix will be unsymmetrical. This implies significant
difficulties in the F.E. solution.


17.3 THE FINITE ELEMENT PROCEDURE

The main difficulty of elastic-plastic problems is due to the impossibility of
defining an explicit relationship ( ) = . Various algorithms are available,
most of them based on the tangent stiffness matrix method associated with
an incremental applying of loads.

The main steps are the ones used in any finite element process. For a load
increment R , the algorithm follows the subsequent steps:

- at element level, assuming an elastic behavior, the stiffness matrices
are calculated and assembled in the global stiffness matrix

=
V
T
dV EB B k and

= k K (17.20)

- at structural level, the corresponding displacement increment is
calculated

R K = (17.21)

- again, at the element level

B =
E = (17.22)
+ =
1 i i



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175
Assuming that the material has a well-defined yielding surface ( ) 0 = p , F ,
each finite element in the mesh is checked regarding its status:

- if ( ) 0 < ) p , F , the element remains in the elastic range;
- if ( ) 0 > p , F , the element is in the plastic range, but the stress level
exceeds the yielding surface; consequently, the constrain to return on
the yielding surface should be applied:

( ) 0
1
= +

p , F
i
(17.23)

from which the actual acceptable stress and strain increments and
is calculated.

+ =


1 i i
(17.24)
+ =


1 i i
(17.25)

From this stress level the elements behavior is defined by the tangent
elastic-plastic matrix, and the stiffness matrix

=
V
ep
T
ep
dV B E B k (17.26)

is recalculated for each load step. The residual stress ( ) 1 has to be
redistributed within the structure, taking into account the plastic state of the
element. The nodal forces corresponding to the residual stress are

( ) dV
T
p
B r =

1 (17.27)

which remain unbalanced over the structure.

At structural level, the global stiffness matrix is assembled from the
stiffness matrices of the elements remained in elastic state and the stiffness
matrices of the elements in plastic state


+ =
ep e
k k K , (17.28)

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176
while the load vector contains the unbalanced forces over the structure

=
p p
r R (17.29)

A new status check is required for each element in the mesh. If no other
element is changing form the elastic to the plastic range, the analysis can go
on to the next load increment. If not, a new, similar sequence is required.

Remarks:

1. If the load increments are small enough, the redistribution phase can be
omitted; after the new structural stiffness assembling is performed, the next
loading increment R is applied

+ =
p
r R K (17.30)

2. When evaluating the elastic-plastic matrix, a phase of solution
improvement can be introduced, as the one used in the tangential elasticity
matrix procedure (a modified Euler process).