Analysis of some basic approaches to finite strain elasto-plasticity in view of reference change
For researchers in finite strain elasto-plasticity, this work offers a new theoretical tool to systematically analyze and classify different constitutive frameworks.
The paper introduces the concept of weak invariance under reference configuration transformations and uses it to qualitatively compare three basic approaches to finite strain elasto-plasticity. It shows that weak invariance provides insights into constitutive assumptions and can serve as a classification criterion.
There is a large variety of concepts used to generalize the classical Prandtl-Reuss relations of infinitesimal elasto-plasticity to finite strains. In this work, some basic approaches are compared in a qualitative way with respect to a certain invariance property. These basic approaches include the additive hypoelasto-plasticity with corotational stress rates, additive plasticity in the logarithmic strain space, and multiplicative hyperelasto-plasticity. The notion of weak invariance is introduced in this study. Roughly speaking, a material model is weakly invariant under a certain transformation of the local reference configuration if this reference change can be neutralized by a suitable transformation of initial conditions, leaving the remaining constitutive relations intact. We analyse the basic models in order to find out if they are weakly invariant under arbitrary volume-preserving transformations of the reference configuration. It is shown that the weak invariance property corresponds to a generalized symmetry which provides insights into underlying constitutive assumptions. This property can be used for a systematic study of different frameworks of finite strain elasto-plasticity. In particular, it can be used as a classification criterion.