Upper-bound limit analysis of a rigid-plastic body with frictional interfaces

Abstract

A finite element formulation of the upper-bound theorem for rigid-plastic solids, generalized to include interfaces with finite friction, is described. As proved by Collins [ J. Mech. Phys. Solids 17, 323 (1969)], the usual definition of a kinematically admissible velocity field is unnecessarily restrictive when the upper-bound theorem is applied to many practical problems. This paper shows that a relaxed inequality can be used successfully to derive upper bounds in the presence of Coulomb friction on interfaces, provided one considers a wide enough class of “admissible” velocity fields. One of the major advantages of using a numerical formulation of the upper-bound theorem is that both complex loading geometry and inhomogeneous material behaviour can be easily dealt with. Using a suitable linear approximation of the yield surface, the application of the necessary boundary conditions, the plastic flow rule and the yield criterion lead to a large linear programming problem. The numerical procedure uses constant-strain triangular elements with the unknown velocities as the nodal variables. An additional set of unknowns, the plastic multiplier rates, is associated with each element. Kinematically admissible velocity discontinuities are permitted along specified planes within the finite element mesh. During the solution phase, an active set algorithm is used to solve the linear programming problem.