An alternative to kinematic hardening in classical plasticity

In this work, an approach is proposed for the description of the plastic behavior of materials subjected to multiple or continuous strain path changes. In particular, although it is not formulated with a kinematic hardening rule, it provides a reasonable description of the Bauschinger effect when loading is reversed. This description of anisotropic hardening is based on homogeneous yield functions/plastic potentials combining a stable, isotropic hardening-type, component and a fluctuating component. The latter captures, in average, the effect of dislocation interactions during strain path changes. For monotonic loading, this approach is identical to isotropic hardening, with an expanding isotropic or anisotropic yield surface around the active stress state. The capability of this constitutive description is illustrated with applications on a number of materials, namely, low carbon, dual phase and ferritic stainless steel samples. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.