On a class of constitutive equations in viscoplasticity: Formulation and computational issues

Abstract

Abstract The viscoplastic constitutive model is formulated based on the existence of the dissipation potential which embodies the notion of the gauge (Minkowski) function of the convex set. A perturbation method is used for a solution of stiff differential equations characterizing the associated problem of evolution. It relies on a discrete formulation of viscoplasticity which results from the regularized version of the principle of maximum plastic dissipation. The operator split methodology and the Newton‐Raphson method are used to obtain the numerical solution of the discretized equations of evolution. The consistent tangent modulus is expressed in a closed form as a result of the exact linearization of the discretized evolution equations. For several variants of the flow potential function, including some representative stiff functional forms, numerical tests of the integration algorithm based on iso‐error maps are provided. Finally, a numerical example is presented to illustrate the robustness and the effectiveness of the proposed approach.