Analysis of adiabatic shear bands in elasto-thermo-viscoplastic materials by modified smoothed-particle hydrodynamics (MSPH) method

We use the modified smoothed-particle hydrodynamics (MSPH) method to analyze shear strain localization in elasto-thermo-viscoplastic materials that exhibit strain- and strain-rate hardening and thermal softening. A homogeneous solution of simple shearing deformations of the body is perturbed and the resulting initial-boundary-value problem analyzed by the MSPH method. It is found that the deformation localizes into a narrow region of intense plastic deformation. In materials exhibiting enhanced thermal softening, an elastic unloading shear wave emanates from this region and propagates outwards. The time when the deformation localizes decreases exponentially with an increase in the thermal softening coefficient. Results have been computed without adding an artificial viscosity and compared with those obtained by the finite element method. (C) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.