RATCHETING OF CYCLICALLY HARDENING AND SOFTENING MATERIALS .1. UNIAXIAL BEHAVIOR

The phenomenon of ratcheting of materials cyclically loaded in the plastic range is studied through combined experimental and analytical efforts (ratcheting here describes the cyclic accumulation of deformation). In particular the work seeks to illustrate how cyclic hardening and softening influence ratcheting. To this end, systematic sets of experiments were performed on stainless steel 304 and carbon steel 1018 which, respectively, exhibit cyclic hardening and softening. Due to the wide variety of behavior observed, and to better illustrate the modelling challenges, the results are divided into uniaxial and multiaxial behavior, and are presented in Parts I and II, respectively. In Part I, the results from a series of uniaxial stress-controlled experiments are presented, which illustrate the parametric dependence of ratcheting in the two materials examined. Results from a set of auxiliary strain-controlled experiments required for quantifying the cyclic hardening and softening characteristics of the materials are also presented. In a preceding publication, the authors demonstrated that ratcheting in cyclically stable materials could be simulated with consistent accuracy by allowing the bounds of the two-surface model of Dafalias-Popov to translate in the direction of ratcheting at the rate of ratcheting. This modified model, coupled with previously developed schemes for simulating cyclic hardening in strain-controlled cycling, are used to simulate the experimental results developed. Strengths, weaknesses and plausible alternatives are critically presented. The results are quite promising.