THE FINITE ELEMENT METHOD APPLIED TO

LARGE ELASTO-PLASTIC DEFORMATIONS

OF SOLIDS
George Z. Voyiadjis
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Petroleum and Minerals,
Dhahran, SaudiArabia
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J ...,1)J .l (Finite Element) ~>~i ~I I ~ ..)J - ~~'11 Ifa~ .;.J ~)J .l W~I ;\;J ..ull
. .s.f-l,1 ~~'11 ~l:-- ..) iJ ~WI~~.F- ..) ~l:J I ~~'1IJ 'J h-Ij'1\
The constitutive equations describing the behavior of large elasto-plastic defor-
mations of solids havebeen proposed inaprevious paper [11. Theproblemof analysis
of displacements, stresses and strains in elements made of this material subject to
arbitrarily large deformations under the conditions of plane strain has been formu-
lated in terms of the finite element method.
0377-9211/79/0104-0041$01.00
1979by The University of Petroleum and Minerals
THE FINITE ELEMENT METHOD APPLIED TO
LARGE ELASTO-PLASTIC DEFORMATIONS
OF SOLIDS
I nthis paper the finiteelement method is usedinthe
case of problems involving large elasto-plastic de-
formations of materials. Such materials display an
initial linear elasticity which is followed, at increasing
loading, by plastic strains with no rate, or viscous
effects. The topics included inthis paper are:
I . The finite element formulation of the analysis of
two-dimensional problems.
2. Methods of solution of theequations resulting from
the use of the finite element method.
I n this paper, theproblem of analysis oflarge elastic-
plastic deformations will beformulated interms of the
finite element method. Since the basic procedures of
the finite element method are described in numerous
papers and monographs (see, for example Reference
[2]), only the aspects related to the present problem
will be emphasized in this paper.
The fundamental equation in the following argu-
ments is the principle oj virtual work (Equation (2.26),
Reference [1]:
L 8eT s dV - L 8uT fdV - I s 8uT P dS =0 (1)
which is the condition of equilibrium in terms of the
displacement fieldu(x, y). I nthefiniteelement method,
the displacement fieldu is approx'imated by adiscrete
model which contains a finite number of independent
nodal displacements. For this purpose, the regions of
integration in Equation (I ) are divided into a finite
number of subregions, or elements. Within each ele-
ment, the displacement fieldis approximated byknown
functions which are continuous across the element
boundaries. For anonlinear elastic body, for whichthe
stress vector is aJunction of thedisplacement gradients,
Equation (l) results in a systemof nonlinear algebraic
equations. I n the present problem of anelastic-plastic
body, the stress s is aJunctional of the displacement
gradients, Equation (l) leads to a systemof Junctional
equations for the nodal displacements.
Figure 1shows atypical element meshinanarbitrary
body with m elements and n nodal points. Thecompo-
nents of displacement at a node iare Ui and Vi' The
Figure 1, Typical Element Mesh; Notation for Global
Nodal Displacements
nodal displacement vector for the body, or the system,
is the 2n X 1matrix qwhose elements are
A typical element with its nodal displacements is
shown in Figure 2. The nodal displacement vector Qk
of the element k is
Since, at the corresponding nodes, the nodal dis-
placements of an element are identical with thenodal
displacements of the body, it is evident that
where the form of Tk is implied by the definitions
of qandql stated byEquations (3) and(4), respectively.
Thedisplacement fieldwithintheelementkis approx-
imated by linear functions of x andy,
Typical Triangular Element; Notation for
Element Displacements
1
u =- [ ( a, +bl x +c,y) u, +( a2 +b2x +C2Y ) U2
2 , 1
+ ( a3 +b3 x +C3 Y ) U3 ]
1
v =2,1 [ ( al +bl x +cly) v\ +( a2 +b2x +C2Y ) V2
+ ( a3 +b3 x +C3 Y ) V3 ]
where
XI Y I
2,1 =2 X (area of triangle) =det X 2 Y 2
X 3 Y 3
al =X 2Y 3 - X 3 Y 2, bl =Y 2 - Y 3 , C, =X 3 - X 2
with a2, b2, C2, a3 , 3 , and C3 obtained by cyclic per-
mutation of indices.
I n matrix notation, with
Uk =[~)b
N, =(a, + bl X +c,y) /2,1, N2 =... etc.
1 =[6 ~J
Nk =(I N" 1N 2, 1N 3)'
Equation (6) becomes
Uk=Nkqk'
I n view of Equation (5),
Uk=NkTkq
The components of strain are computed from the
components of displacement according to equation (8).
[ 11. The result is
where the matrix Bk corresponds to the linear terms
in the strain-displacement relations, while BZ takes
into account the nonlinear terms. I t can be easily
verified that the matrices Bk and BZ are shown by
Equations (10) and (11), respectively.
1 [bl 0 b
2
0 b
3
0 J
2,1 0 CI 0 C2 0 C3
CI bl C2 b2 C3 b)
BZ=FkGkHk
(10)
(11)
[
bOlO b,O b20 b20 b3 0 b3 0 ]
C, 0 C, 0 C2 0 C2 0 C3 0 C3
C, bl CI b, C2 b2 C2 b2 C3 b3 C3 b3
u, 0 0 0
0 0 u, 0
0 VI 0 0
0 0 0 VI
U2 0 0 0
[ ~
0 b2
0 b)
g J
Gk= 0 0 U2 0 Hk= bl
0 b2
0
0 V2
0 0 CI
0 C2 0 C3
0 0 0 V2
0 C1
0
C2
0 C3
U3 0 0 0
0 0 U3 0
0 V3
0 0
0 0 0 V3
I n the following, the differential dek will be needed
rather than the strain ek itself. Differentiation of (9)
yields
consequently,
dek =(Bk+BZ) dqk =Bk dqk
dek =BkT k dq. (13)
From the stress-strain relation Equation (3.23),
Reference [1];
Sk=L DkBkdqk
Substitution of (8) and (13) into (1) results
k=m
8qTI Tif Bis,dV
k~ 1 Vk
k~m
-8qTI Tif NifdV
k~ 1 Vk
- 8qTI Ti f Nip dS =0 (16)
k Sk
The above equation is valid for any virtual 8qT;there-
fore
'I mTi f BiskdV-1mTiFk- kfnTiPk=O
k~ I Vk k~ I k- I
and the last summation in Equations (16) and (17)
extends onlyover theboundary elements.
Equation (17) is anonlinear functional equation inq,
becauseBk is afunction of qkand, thus, of q, and s is a
functional of qas shown by (15).
The first term onthe left-hand sideof Equation (17)
will bedenoted byQ (q); thesecond andthethird terms
combined, by R. Thus, Equation (17) can bewritten as
Q;(q) =R
i
, i = 1,2, ... , 2n (18b)
The numerical solution of (18) or (19) will require the
derivatives
8Qi =' Kij i =1,2, ... , 2n
8q . 1 2 2
J J=" ... ,n
Differentiation of Equation (17) yields
k~m
dQ =I TJ f (dBJ Sk +BJ ds
k
) dV (20)
k~ I V
k
From (12), (10) and (11),
- 1
dB
k
=dB
k
"=-
4 , 1 2
d(:~) d(~;) 0 0
o 0 d ( ~ : )d ( : ; )
d(~:) d(:;) d(:~) dG:)
[ b'
0 b
2
0 b
3
~ ; ]
. 0 b, o b
2
0
c
1
0
C2 0 c
3
0 c
1
0 c
2
0 C
3
and
dlF Sk =C
k
dqk
where
[
bl 0 b
2
0 b
3
0J
. 0 b
l
0 b
2
0 b ]
C
1
0 C2 0 C3 0
o C
1
0 C2 0 C
3
The first term in Equation (20) is thus,
L
k
dB! Sk dV =K~dq (23)
is the so-called initial stress, or geometric, stiffness
matrix of the element k. The second terminEquation
(20) can bewritten, with (14) as
f BJ DkB
k
dqkdV =K
k
dqk
Vk (25)
where
Kk =f B"TDkB"dV + f (B"TDkB;;
Vk Vk
+ B;;T DkB" +B;;TDkB;;T)dV (26)
The matrix K
k
will becalledthematerial stiffness matrix
of the element k. (I n the problems of nonlinear elasti-
city, the matrix K
k
is known as the elastic stiffness
matrix.)
With (23), (25), and (5), (20) becomes
k=m
dQ =I TJ (KZ +Kd T
k
dq (27)
k~1
and, hence, the matrix K, whose elements are Kij =
oQ) oqj, is
k=m
K =I TJ (K~ +K
k
) T
k
(28)
k~ I
K
k
=K~+K
k
(21) is known as thetangent stiffness matrix of theelement k.
The matrix K defined by Equation (28) is theglobal tan-
gent stiffness matrix.
b
l
0 C
1
0
0 b
l
0 C,
C
k
=, b
2
0 C2 0
0 b
2
0 C2
b
3
0 C3 0
0 b
3
0 C3
The functional equations (18) aresolvedbyapplying
incremental steps of loading and performing iterations
within each increment. The computational procedure
is then as follows:
L et q(n)and R(n)be the nodal displacements andthe
right-hand side of (18), respectively, at the end of the
nth load increment, for which
Q(q(n)) _ R(n) =O.
L et LlR be the next load increment, and let Llq be the
corresponding nodal displacement increment; they
satisfy
Q(q(n) +Llq) - (R(n) +LlR) =O. (30)
The first approximation for Llq will be obtained by
taking the first term of the Taylor expansion of Q at
q(n), i.e., by replacing Equation (30) with
Q(q(n)) +K
o
Llq - (R(n) +LlR) =0
or, in view of (29),
KoLlq - LlR =0
K
o
=(~~) q~q(n)
is the tangent stiffness matrix at q =q(n)(the tangent
stiffness matrices have been discussed in Section 2;
see Equations (19), (27), and (28)).
From (31), the first approximation of Llq follows as
Llq(l) =K.;-ILlR.
I f the above approximate value is substituted into
Equation (30), we have
Q(q(n) +Llq(I)) - (R(n) +LlR) =-lJ '. (32)
The next correction to Llq is obtained by expanding Q
at q =q(n) +Llq(I)' which results in
Q(q(n) +Llq(I)) + K(I)Llq - (R(n) +LlR) =0
or, with (32) in
K(I)Llq =lJ '. (33)
where K(j) is the tangent stiffness at q =q(n) +Llq(l)'
From (33),
Llq =Llq(l) +Llq(2)' (35)
The ith correction to Llq follows, thus, from
K
U
-
I
) =K(q(n) +Llq(l) + +Llqu-I) (37)
lJ 'U-l) =Q(q(n) +Llq(l) + +Llq(i-l))
- (R(n) +LlR) (38)
The value of Llq after i corrections is
Llq =Llq(l) +Llq(2) + ... +LlqU) (39)
The above procedure is formally identical with the
known Newton- Raphson method for the solution
of a system of nonlinear algebraic equations. The
convergence of this method for a system of nonlinear
algebraic equations has been widely discussed (see, for
example, [3]).
I t should be kept in mind, however, that the equa-
tions of the present problem (Equations (18)) are not
algebraic equations in q. Consequently, many pro-
perties of the Newton-Raphson method, especially
those related to the nature ofthe approximation and to
the convergence of the process, are not transferable
to the case of Equations (18). The differences between
the Newton-Raphson method applied to a system of
nonlinear algebraic equations (e.g. of a nonlinear
elastic problem) and the system offunctional equations
(as in the present problem) is illustrated in Figures
3a,b.
I n the case of algebraic equations (Figure 3a), after
the first value Llq(l) has been found, the correspondiag
(b) Q
R (n +1)
Figure 3. I teration Process for ( a) A Nonlinear Elastic
Solid andfor ( b) An Elasto- Plastic solid
value of Q(q(n) + ,1q(J )) (point A) and the slope K
1
for
the next step can be computed exactly. The process
is known to converge to the exact solution [31.
I n the case of functional equations (Figure 3b), from
the value ,1q(I), the value of Q(q(n) + ,1q(I)) can be
determined only approximately, i.e., thepointAcannot
belocated exactly onthetrue curveQ(q), andthe slope
Kj for the next step is also only approximate. Con-
sequently, the convergence theorems of theNewton-
Raphson method, developed for systems of algebraic
equations, are not directly applicable to the present
problem. The same objections apply to the modified
Newton-Raphson method (in which K
i
is replaced by
the matrix Ko in every step of iteration) as well as to
other iterative procedures developed for the finite
element analysis of elasto-plastic solids, such as the
'initial strain' method [4) and the 'initial stress' method
[51. The treatment of the incremental Equations (31)
as asystemof ordinary differential equations (proposed
in Reference [9)) and the application of higher-order
numerical integration methods does not remove the
difficulties outlined above.
I n spite of the lack of aformal proof of convergence,
the method described in this section has beenshownto
yield results of remarkable accuracy. References
[6-8) contain a detailed discussion and numerical
results which prove, at least heuristically, the validity
of the procedure.
The problem of analysis of displacements, stresses,
and strains in elements made of elasto-plastic metals,
subjected to arbitrarily large deformations under the
conditions of plane strain has been formulated in
terms of the finite element method. The resulting
system of integral equations for the nodal displace-
ment can be solved by using acombination of Euler's
forward integration with the Newton-Raphson itera-
tion at each step.
The work described in this paper seems to demon-
strate the feasibility of the theory of plasticity oflarge
deformations and the finiteelement technique insolv-
ingcomplex problems (i.e., any shape andanydeform-
ation) of the mechanics of elasto-plastic metals. At the
same time, certain topics have been exposed as requir-
ing further extensive investigations. They are
1. Efficient methods of solution of the integral
equations resulting from the application of the
finite element technique to the problems of stress
and strain analysis. Specially, reduction of
computer time and clarification of the nature of
convergence appear to be of utmost urgency.
2. Criteria for selection of optimal types of finite
elements. Clearly, the experience accumulated in
linearly elastic problems is not directly transferable
to the present problems.
REFERENCES
[I ] G. Z. Voyiadjis, 'Constitutive equations for work-
hardening elasto-plastic materials', The Arabian Jour-
nal for Science and Engineering, 3, No. I (1977), pp.
19-27.
[2] O. C. Zienkiewicz, The Finite Element Method inEngin-
eering Science. McGraw-Hill, 1971.
[3] J . M. Ortega and W. C. Rheinboldt, I terative Solution
of Nonlinear Equations in Several Variables. Academic
Press, 1970.
[4] J . H. Argyris, 'Elasto-plastic matrix displacement
analysis of three-dimentional continua', Journal of the
Royal Aeronautical Society, 69(1965), pp. 633-635.
[5] O. C. Zienkiewicz, S. Valliappan and I . P. King, 'Elasto--
plastic solutions of engineering problems; "I nitial
Stress"; Finite Element Approach', I nternationalJour-
nal for Numerical Methods in Engineering, 1(1969) pp.
75-100.
[6] P. V. Marcal, 'A comparative study of numerical
method of elasto-plastic analysis', AI AA Journal, 6
(1968), pp. 157-158.
[7] J . H. Argyris and D. W. Scharpf, 'Methods of elasto-
plastic analysis', lSD, I SSe Symposium on Finite Ele-
ment Technology, Stuttgart (1969).
[8] O. C. Zienkiewicz and G. C. Nayak, 'Elasto-plastic
stress analysis. A generalization for various constitutive
relations including strain softening', I nternational
Journal Numerical Methods in Engineering,S (1972), pp.
113-135.
[9] Z. P. Bazant, 'Matrix differential equations andhigher-
order numerical methods for problems of non-linear
creep, viscoelasticity and elasto-plasticity', I nter-
national Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering,
4(1972), pp. 11-15.