Numerical investigation of plastic strain localization for rock-like materials in the framework of fractional plasticity

Abstract

The plastic strain localization phenomenon is of critical importance for rock-like materials when undergoing non-homogeneous deformation. This paper presents a fractional plastic framework which is applied to take into account the plastic strain localization of rock-like materials. The novelty of the presented framework lies in the non-coaxial plastic flow that is controlled by the RiemannLiouville (RL) fractional derivative without additional plastic potential. The hardening response is described by a function of the generalized plastic shear strain. The capability of the fractional constitutive model to predict the main mechanical behaviors of rock-like materials is assessed by the conventional triaxial compression test data of Vosges sandstones from the literature. With the help of a MATLAB-based finite element method, several numerical examples (i.e., a plate, a plate with a hole, and a plate with a crack) are implemented, compared and analyzed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework and the influence of the fractional order on the strain localization. It can be found from the numerical application of the twin-tunnel that the fractional model is promising to flexibly capture the strain localization zone for rock-like materials.