Construction and solution of strain model along thickness of aluminum alloy plate under plastic deformation

A thickness strain model of aluminium alloy plate under plastic deformation, based on thin plate assumption was proposed. It is found that when ratio of stress fractions is constant during in-plane loading, ratios of strain components under various loading conditions are linearly related and these points of ratios form a η–η line. Under these simple loadings, strains in thickness direction can be easily calculated by the η–η line equation without integral and differential work. When the plate is under more complicated loading conditions, the thickness can be computed by the proposed optimization and piecewise calculation model. Validation computations indicate that the relative error of the results of the presented model is less than 0.75% compared with the proven theories and FE simulation. Therefore, the developed model can be applied to engineering calculation, e.g. pre-stretching analysis of aerospace aluminium thick plate, with acceptable accuracy.