Anisotropic plasticity for sheet metals using the concept of combined isotropic-kinematic hardening

Hill's 1948 anisotropic theory of plasticity (Hill, R., 1948. A theory of yielding and plastic flow of anisotropic metals. Proc. Roy. Soc. London A 193, 281-297) is extended to include the concept of combined isotropic-kinematic hardening, and the objective of this paper is to validate the model so that it may be useful for analyses of sheet metal forming. Isotropic hardening and kinematic hardening may be experimentally observed in sheet metals, if yielding is defined by the proportional limit or by a small proof strain. In this paper,. a single exponential term is used to describe isotropic hardening and Prager's linear kinematic hardening rule is applied for simplicity. It is shown that this model can satisfactorily describe both the yield stress and the plastic strain ratio, the R-ratio, observed in tension test of specimens cut at various angles measured from the rolling direction of the sheet. Kinematic hardening leads to a gradual change in the direction of the plastic strain increment, as the axial strain increases in the tension test; while in the traditional approach for sheet metal, this direction does not change due to the use of isotropic hardening. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.