Constitutive Description of Isotropic and Anisotropic Plasticity for Metals

Abstract

Modeling of the plastic behavior for isotropic and anisotropic metals is the topic of this article. The motivation for such work is briefly introduced. Then, a description of the main features of plastic deformation in metals at different scales is summarized to prepare the subsequent choices and assumptions made in the next sections. The main properties of the Cauchy stress tensor are reviewed because it is the main variable for plastic yielding. The description of plasticity for isotropic metals is discussed, which includes the yield condition, the flow rule and strain hardening. Then, the generalization of the concepts to plastic anisotropy, which is particularly important to the case of metal sheets and plates, is outlined. Finally, the influence of the constitutive description for plasticity on failure is briefly discussed using two examples.