A strain space framework for numerical hyperplasticity

Numerical simulations of high strain rate plastic flow have historically been built in a hypoelastic framework and use radial return (Wilkins’ method) as the solution algorithm. We show how each of these choices can lead to inaccurate and possibly nonconvergent results. We describe an alternative solution procedure based on a simple multiple time scale perturbation theory that is stable, accurate, computationally efficient and simple to implement. Further extension of these results then leads to a strain space formulation that has additional computational advantages. We illustrate our development with numerical experiments.This paper is dedicated to my friend and colleague Christo Christov on the occasion of his 60th birthday, in recognition of his many important and creative contributions to the formulation of continuum mechanics.