A finite element method for plane stress problems with large elastic and plastic deformations

Abstract

A two-dimensional finite element method is developed for large deformation plasticity. Principal axes are used for the description of the material behaviour, and the use of principal logarithmic stretches leads to exact formulae for finite deformation problems with large elastic and plastic strains. An efficient return mapping algorithm and the corresponding consistent tangent are derived and applied to plane stress problems. Two examples show the performance of the proposed formulation. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.