Plasticity and

Deformation Process
Stress-strain relations in deformation theory
The fundamental problem in the solution of a plasticity problem is to determine how stresses and strains can be
found for a specified state of loading on a body.

There are two theories to describe the relation between stresses and strains:

Deformation or total strain theory:

Total strains are directly related to the total stresses by the secant modulus which is a function of the stress level
The strains on an object depend on the final state of stress, they are independent of stress history

Flow or incremental strain theory:

Increments of plastic strain ΔεP are related to increments of plastic stress ΔσP by the tangent modulus which is a
function of the stress level
The strains are separated into an elastic component εe and a plastic component εP in both theories.

The elastic component of strain under uniaxial stress loading is σ/E

The plastic component is represented by a complex equation as will be derived next

Both deformation and incremental theories are based on the assumption that elastic deformation is compressible
and plastic deformation is incompressible
The compressible nature of elastic deformation is obvious from the fact that Poisson’s ratio for ordinary isotropic
materials is much less than one-half (0-0.35)

The incompressibilty of plastic deformation is not obvious

Experiments on materials subjected to very high hydrostatic pressures show that the density and volume do not
significantly change under extremely high pressures.

Recall the dilatation or volumetric strain of materials under hydrostatic stress:

𝜃 = 𝜀𝑥 + 𝜀𝑦 + 𝜀𝑧 = 𝜀 1 − 2𝜈

In which 𝜀 is the total strain under uniaxial stress 𝜎 and 𝜈 is the Poisson’s ratio for total strains

Dilatation can be regarded as the sum of an elastic dilatation and a plastic dilatation

𝜃𝑒 = 𝜀𝑒 1 − 2𝜈𝑒 𝜃𝑝 = 𝜀𝑝 1 − 2𝜈𝑝
 𝜃 = 𝜃𝑒 + 𝜃𝑝 = 𝜀 1 − 2𝜈 = 𝜀𝑒 1 − 2𝜈𝑒 + 𝜀𝑝 1 − 2𝜈𝑝

Dividing both sides by 𝜀 and substituting 𝜀 − 𝜀𝑒 for 𝜀𝑝 gives:

𝜀𝑒 𝑒
𝜀 − 𝜀𝑒
1 − 2𝜈 = 1 − 2𝜈 + 1 − 2𝜈𝑝
𝜀 𝜀

𝜀𝑒 𝑒 𝑝
𝜀𝑒 𝑝
−2𝜈 = −2𝜈 − 2𝜈 + 2𝜈
𝜀 𝜀

So
𝜀𝑒 𝑝
𝜈= 𝜈𝑝 − 𝜈 − 𝜈𝑒
𝜀

Furthermore the strains can be expressed in terms of the moduli:

𝜀𝑒 𝜎 𝐸 𝐸𝑠𝑒𝑐
= =
𝜀 𝜎 𝐸𝑠𝑒𝑐 𝐸

Finally
𝐸𝑠𝑒𝑐 𝑝
𝜈 = 𝜈𝑝 − 𝜈 − 𝜈𝑒
𝐸

Or
1 𝐸𝑠𝑒𝑐 1
𝜈= − − 𝜈𝑒
2 𝐸 2
Since materials are incompressible during plastic deformation, the Poisson’s ratio changes from the elastic value
to the incompressible value ½ in a very gradual way as the stress is increased above the yield stress

𝜈 = 𝜈𝑒 for 𝜎 ≤ 𝜎𝑦

1 𝐸𝑠𝑒𝑐 1
𝜈=𝜈 𝜎 = − − 𝜈𝑒 for 𝜎 > 𝜎𝑦
2 𝐸 2

1
𝜈= for 𝜎 ≫ 𝜎𝑦
2
The stress-strain relations are expressed by Hencky et al. according to the deformation theory

Strains are separated into elastic and plastic strains:

𝜀𝑥 = 𝜀𝑥 𝑒 + 𝜀𝑥 𝑝

𝛾𝑥𝑦 = 𝛾𝑥𝑦 𝑒 + 𝛾𝑥𝑦 𝑝

The elastic strains are obtained from the Hooke’s law

1
𝜀𝑥 𝑒 = 𝜎𝑥 − 𝜈𝑒 𝜎𝑦 + 𝜎𝑧
𝐸

1
𝜀𝑦 𝑒 = 𝜎𝑦 − 𝜈𝑒 𝜎𝑥 + 𝜎𝑧
𝐸

1
𝜀𝑧 𝑒 = 𝜎𝑧 − 𝜈𝑒 𝜎𝑥 + 𝜎𝑦
𝐸
𝜏𝑥𝑦
𝛾𝑥𝑦 𝑒 =
𝐺
𝜏𝑦𝑧
𝛾𝑦𝑧 𝑒 =
𝐺
𝜏𝑧𝑥
𝛾𝑧𝑥 𝑒 =
𝐺
Where the mechanical properties E and G are the normal elastic modulus and shear modulus
To obtain the plastic moduli we need to consider the stress-strain diagram in terms of the normal stress and the
plastic strain

The plastic modulus at any stress above the yield stress is the secant modulus at that point

1
𝜀𝑥 𝑝 = 𝑝
𝑝 𝜎𝑥 − 𝜈 𝜎𝑦 + 𝜎𝑧
𝐸
1
𝜀𝑦 𝑝 = 𝑝 𝜎𝑦 − 𝜈𝑝 𝜎𝑥 + 𝜎𝑧
𝐸
1
𝜀𝑧 𝑝 = 𝑝 𝜎𝑧 − 𝜈𝑝 𝜎𝑥 + 𝜎𝑦
𝐸
𝜏𝑥𝑦
𝛾𝑥𝑦 𝑝 = 𝑝
𝐺
𝜏 𝑦𝑧
𝛾𝑦𝑧 𝑝 = 𝑝
𝐺
𝜏 𝑧𝑥
𝛾𝑧𝑥 𝑝 = 𝑝
𝑝
𝐺
𝑝
Where 𝜈 is the plastic Poisson’s ratio (1/2) and 𝐺 is the plastic shear modulus:
𝑝 𝐸𝑝 𝐸𝑝
𝐺 = =
2 1+𝜈 3
The elastic and plastic strains sum to the total strains as

1 1 1
= + 𝑝
𝐸𝑠𝑒𝑐 𝐸 𝐸

𝜈𝑒 𝐸 + 𝜈𝑝 𝐸𝑝
𝜈=
1 𝐸 + 1 𝐸𝑝

The stress-strain behavior is divided into three regions: elastic, elastic-plastic and plastic

Only the elastic-plastic region is considered in the deformation theory as a material nonlinearity
The modulus is expressed as a function of the stresses using various material models.

The problem-solving is not straight forward because the secant modulus depends on the stress and an iteration
procedure is essential.

Hencky used the von Mises yield criterion and the distortional energy concept to derive the stress-strain relations

The combination of the yield criterion, the stress-strain relations, and the material model is the complete
deformation theory of plasticity

Deformation theory helps us predict the stresses and strains at a point on the stress-strain curve but does not
enable consideration of the path taken to get there.

Because of that, loading and unloading can not be evaluated with the same material model using deformation
theory and should be considered as separate events.

Another limitation of deformation theory is that all stresses in a multiaxial stress state must be applied in
proportion to one another because deformation theory is not capable of distinguishing between types of loading.

Also hardening is considered isotropic because the secant modulus is used instead of the tangent modulus.

These restrictions are valid for some plasticity problems and the theory is not generally applicable.

But it is applicable to most practical problems in metal forming and quite useful. Some problems that are easily
solved with deformation theory are difficult to solve with incremental theory because of the excessively complex
computation methods.
The basis for the deformation theory of plasticity is the stress-strain relations and the associated stress and strain
intensities for multiaxial stress states.

The stress intensity or the effective stress for an elastic material is expressed as

2 2 2 2
𝜎𝑒𝑓𝑓 = 𝜎𝑥 − 𝜎𝑦 + 𝜎𝑦 − 𝜎𝑧 + 𝜎𝑧 − 𝜎𝑥 + 6 𝜏𝑦𝑧 2 + 𝜏𝑧𝑥 2 + 𝜏𝑥𝑦 2
2

And the effective strain as

2 2 2 2
3
𝜀𝑒𝑓𝑓 = 𝜀𝑥 − 𝜀𝑦 + 𝜀𝑦 − 𝜀𝑧 + 𝜀𝑧 − 𝜀𝑥 + 𝛾𝑦𝑧 2 + 𝛾𝑧𝑥 2 + 𝛾𝑥𝑦 2
2 1+𝜈 2
And
𝜎𝑒𝑓𝑓 = 𝐸𝜀𝑒𝑓𝑓
The three dimensional elastic stress-strain relations for an isotropic material in terms of Young’s modulus, and
Poisson’s ratio are:
𝐸
𝜎𝑥 = 1 − 𝜈 𝜀𝑥 + 𝜈 𝜀𝑦 + 𝜀𝑧
1 + 𝜈 1 − 2𝜈
𝐸
𝜎𝑦 = 1 − 𝜈 𝜀𝑦 + 𝜈 𝜀𝑧 + 𝜀𝑥
1 + 𝜈 1 − 2𝜈
𝐸
𝜎𝑥 = 1 − 𝜈 𝜀𝑧 + 𝜈 𝜀𝑥 + 𝜀𝑦
1 + 𝜈 1 − 2𝜈
𝐸
𝜏𝑦𝑧 = 𝛾
2 1 + 𝜈 𝑦𝑧
𝐸
𝜏𝑧𝑥 = 𝛾
2 1 + 𝜈 𝑧𝑥
𝐸
𝜏𝑥𝑦 = 𝛾
2 1 + 𝜈 𝑥𝑦
Partitioning of the strains into elastic and plastic components helps us understand the deformation theory.
In practice it is more convenient to determine the strains from a state of multiaxial stress in a single form that
applies to all three deformation regions

These three dimensional total stress-strain relatios for an isotropic material in terms of Young’s secant modulus
and a continuously variable Poisson’s ratio are similarly:

𝐸𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑡
𝜎𝑥 = 1 − 𝜈 𝜀𝑥 + 𝜈 𝜀𝑦 + 𝜀𝑧
1 + 𝜈 1 − 2𝜈

𝐸𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑡
𝜎𝑦 = 1 − 𝜈 𝜀𝑦 + 𝜈 𝜀𝑧 + 𝜀𝑥
1 + 𝜈 1 − 2𝜈

𝐸𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑡
𝜎𝑥 = 1 − 𝜈 𝜀𝑧 + 𝜈 𝜀𝑥 + 𝜀𝑦
1 + 𝜈 1 − 2𝜈
𝐸𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑡
𝜏𝑦𝑧 = 𝛾 = 𝐺𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝛾𝑦𝑧
2 1 + 𝜈 𝑦𝑧
𝐸𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑡
𝜏𝑧𝑥 = 𝛾 = 𝐺𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝛾𝑧𝑥
2 1 + 𝜈 𝑧𝑥
𝐸𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑡
𝜏𝑥𝑦 = 𝛾 = 𝐺𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝛾𝑥𝑦
2 1 + 𝜈 𝑥𝑦

Where
1 𝐸𝑠𝑒𝑐 1
𝜈= − − 𝜈𝑒
2 𝐸 2
And
𝐸𝑠𝑒𝑐
𝐺𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑡 =
2 1+𝜈
Most deformation processes involving thin plates of material are approximated to the plane stress conditions

Plane stress is a state of stress in which the normal stress 𝜎𝑧 , and the shear stresses 𝜎𝑥𝑧 , 𝜎𝑦𝑧 directed
perpendicular to the x-y plane are assumed to be zero

The geometry of the body is that of a plate with one dimension much smaller than the others. The loads are
applied uniformly over the thickness of the plate and act in the plane of the plate as shown.

The plane stress condition is the simplest form of behavior for continuum structures and represents situations
frequently encountered in practice
 𝜈
Under plane stress conditions 𝜎𝑧 = 0, 𝜏𝑥𝑧 = 𝜏𝑦𝑧 = 0 and 𝜀𝑧 = − 𝜀𝑥 + 𝜀𝑦
1−𝜈

So the effective strain for a state of plane stress is

2 3
𝜀𝑒𝑓𝑓 = 1 − 𝜈 + 𝜈2 𝜀𝑥 2 + 𝜀𝑦 2 + 1 − 4𝜈 + 𝜈2 𝜀𝑥 𝜀𝑦 + 1 − 𝜈 2 𝛾𝑥𝑦 2
2 1 − 𝜈2 4

And the effective stress is

2 2 2
2
𝜎𝑒𝑓𝑓 = 𝜎𝑥 − 𝜎𝑦 + 𝜎𝑦 + 𝜎𝑧 + 6 𝜏𝑥𝑦 2
2

Example – A thin disk of aluminum is stressed under plane stress conditions. Determine the effective stress and
strain resulting from the load if the normal stresses in the x and y direction are 70 MPa and 40 MPa, and the
shearing stress on the plane is 30 MPa. EAl= 70 GPa
Deformation theory is workable only if 𝐸𝑠𝑒𝑐 and 𝜈 are expressed as a function of the multiaxial stress state
Recall that
1 𝐸𝑠𝑒𝑐 1
𝜈= − − 𝜈𝑒
2 𝐸 2
The 𝐸𝑠𝑒𝑐 should be expressed as a function of the multiaxial stress state

The general effective stress equation is

2 2 2 2
𝜎𝑒𝑓𝑓 = 𝜎𝑥 − 𝜎𝑦 + 𝜎𝑦 − 𝜎𝑧 + 𝜎𝑧 − 𝜎𝑥 + 6 𝜏𝑦𝑧 2 + 𝜏𝑧𝑥 2 + 𝜏𝑥𝑦 2
2

And the general effective strain

2 2 2 2
3
𝜀𝑒𝑓𝑓 = 𝜀𝑥 − 𝜀𝑦 + 𝜀𝑦 − 𝜀𝑧 + 𝜀𝑧 − 𝜀𝑥 + 𝛾 2 + 𝛾𝑧𝑥 2 + 𝛾𝑥𝑦 2
2 1+𝜈 2 𝑦𝑧
And
𝜎𝑒𝑓𝑓
𝐸𝑠𝑒𝑐 =
𝜀𝑒𝑓𝑓
The equalization of the 𝜎𝑒𝑓𝑓 - 𝜀𝑒𝑓𝑓 curve to the uniaxial 𝜎 − 𝜀 curve when the stresses applied to the material
are reduced to uniaxial state of stress enables us to determine the 𝐸𝑠𝑒𝑐 empirically and solve the deformation
theory problem:
2
𝜎𝑒𝑓𝑓 = 𝜎 2+ 𝜎 2=𝜎
2
And
2
𝜀𝑒𝑓𝑓 = 𝜀2 1 + 𝜈 2 + −𝜈𝜀 − −𝜈𝜀 2 + 𝜀2 −𝜈 − 1 2 = 𝜀
2 1+𝜈
Hence
𝜎
𝐸𝑠𝑒𝑐 =
𝜀
Relating the material properties 𝐸𝑠𝑒𝑐 , 𝜈 for deformation under a multiaxial stress state to the properties
determined in the usual uniaxial mechanical characterization test is important especially for materials with
nonlinear stress-strain behavior as their properties are a nonlinear function of all the multiaxial stresses that act.

The 𝜎 − 𝜀 curve obtained from the uniaxial test is the same as the 𝜎𝑒𝑓𝑓 - 𝜀𝑒𝑓𝑓 curve which represents all multiaxial
stress. This remarkable identity makes the uniaxial stress-strain curve the universal stress-strain curve
To obtain the secant modulus form a uniaxial stress-strain curve, the curve should be considered as a set of points
each of which is a stress and corresponding strain that are obtained during a measurement.

• Enter the stress-strain curve at a specific value of 𝜎𝑒𝑓𝑓 corresponding to the given multiaxial stress state
• Determine 𝐸𝑠𝑒𝑐 either graphically by drawing a straight line to the origin or by interpolation of the stress
values from a table of stress-strain data pairs.
• Use 𝐸𝑠𝑒𝑐 and the variable 𝜈 in the stress-strain relations to calculate the strains for the specified 𝜎𝑒𝑓𝑓
• The strains 𝜀𝑥 , 𝜀𝑦 , 𝜀𝑧 , etc. are the answers we are looking for, not 𝜀𝑒𝑓𝑓 that can be obtained directly from the
curve. Use the strain-stress equations to calculate them:

1
𝜀𝑥 = 𝜎 − 𝜈 𝜎𝑦 + 𝜎𝑧
𝐸𝑠𝑒𝑐 𝑥

1
𝜀𝑦 = 𝜎 − 𝜈 𝜎𝑥 + 𝜎𝑧
𝐸𝑠𝑒𝑐 𝑦

1
𝜀𝑧 = 𝜎 − 𝜈 𝜎𝑥 + 𝜎𝑦
𝐸𝑠𝑒𝑐 𝑧

𝜏𝑥𝑦
𝛾𝑥𝑦 =
𝐺𝑝
𝜏𝑦𝑧
𝛾𝑦𝑧 =
𝐺𝑝
𝜏𝑧𝑥
𝛾𝑧𝑥 =
𝐺𝑝
There are five model equations to represent the stress-strain curves of common strain-hardening materials:
1. Linear strain hardening
2. Power-law
3. Ramberg-Osgood
4. Nadai
5. Nadai-Jones

These models cover more than one class of strain-hardening materials in addition to the non-strain hardening
elastic-perfectly plastic and rigid-perfectly plastic curves.

The least number of parameters to describe elastic-perfectly plastic stress-strain behavior is 2: E and 𝜎𝑦

At least three parameters will be needed to approximate non-linear stress-strain behavior using these models.
Linear strain-hardening model is the simplest of all non-linear stress-strain curve models. It consists of two
straight lines with different moduli:

𝜎 = 𝐸𝜀 𝜀 ≤ 𝜀𝑦
𝜎 = 𝜎 1 + 𝐸1 𝜀 𝜀 > 𝜀𝑦

It becomes the elastic-perfectly plastic model when 𝐸1 = 0 and 𝜎1 = 𝜎𝑦 ,

and the linear elastic model when 𝐸1 = 𝐸 and 𝜎1 = 0

Three parameters are necessary to determine the strains as functions of stress: 𝐸 , 𝐸1 , 𝜎𝑦

The elastic and the first moduli are determined graphically from the secant modulus:

𝐸𝑠𝑒𝑐 = 𝐸 𝜎 ≤ 𝜎𝑦
𝜎
𝐸𝑠𝑒𝑐 = 1 + 𝐸1 𝜎 ≥ 𝜎𝑦
𝜀

The stress at yielding is written by the use of the equation of a straight line y=mx+b:

𝜎𝑦 = 𝜎1 + 𝐸1 𝜀𝑦

The stress-strain behavior of many materials can be represented roughly with this model.
Philip’s model is a mathematical extension of the linear strain-hardening model which consists of multiple straight
line segments.

The more line segments that exist, the better the measured stress-strain behavior can be modeled.
However the mathematical difficulty increases with the addition of each line segment as more parameters are
introduced in the model equation.
Power-law model

The general form of power-law stress-strain curve model has the following equation

𝜎 = 𝐴𝜀𝑛

N is the strain hardening coefficient, A is the constant which are adjusted to best fit measured stress-strain data.

The value of n should be in the range 0-1 in order to model concave-downward behavior.

The stress-strain curve has an infinite slop at the origin and the equation is not good for low stress levels.
Instead the following form is used to account for elastic deformations:

𝜎 = 𝐸𝜀 𝜎 ≤ 𝜎𝑦

𝜎 = 𝐴𝜀𝑛 𝜎 ≥ 𝜎𝑦
An alternative form is
𝜎 = 𝐸𝜀 − 𝐴𝜀𝑛

Only three stress-strain curve parameters are needed for this equation: E, A, n

It is valid until the maximum stress-strain point corresponding to 𝜀𝐿

1
𝐸 𝑛−1
𝜀𝐿 =
𝐴𝑛

Power-law model is used extensively because of its mathematical simplicity, however only certain types of stress-
strain behavior can be modeled with it.
Ramberg-Osgood Model

The general form of Ramberg-Osgood stress-strain curve equation is

𝜎 𝜎 𝑛
𝜀= +𝐾
𝐸 𝐸

The first part in the right hand side is the elastic strain and the second is the plastic strain

K is a constant depending on the modulus E, curve fitting parameter n and m which is a proportionality constant:

𝑛−1
1−𝑚 𝐸
𝐾=
𝑚 𝜎𝑚

Where m is the proportion of the offset yield stress of aluminum to the stress in material under consideration:

𝜎 = 𝑚𝐸𝜀

It is around 0.7 for aluminum

 𝑛−1
𝜎 0.3 𝜎
𝜀= 1+
𝐸 0.7 𝜎0.7

Three parameters are needed to determine the Ramberg-Osgood stress-strain curve: E, 𝜎0.7𝐸 and n

The model equation is continuously curved, there is no definitive elastic region followed by a yield stress.
It approaches elastic-perfectly plastic behavior as n gets larger
Nadai Model

The behavior of elastic-plastic materials like aluminum and its alloys are represented well with a linear elastic
region ended by a well defined toeld stress and a gradual bending over of the conceave downward stress-strain
curve.
Nadai model equation represents this behavior:
𝜎
𝜀= 𝜎 ≤ 𝜎𝑦
𝐸
𝜎 𝑛
𝜀 = + 𝐾 𝜎 − 𝜎𝑦 𝜎 ≥ 𝜎𝑦
𝐸

Where K is constant dependent on the fitting parameter n, the off-set yield strain 𝜀𝑜𝑦 = 0.002, and the stress at
the off-set yield point:
−𝑛
𝐾 = 𝜀𝑜𝑦 𝑝 𝜎 − 𝜎𝑜𝑦

The off-set yield strain at 0.002 is determined from the permanent strain
for materials like steel and aluminum where the behavior deviates from elasticity.

Nadai maodel needs four parameters above the yield stress: E, 𝜎𝑦 , 𝜎𝑜𝑦 , n
The model equation is similar to the Ramberg-Osgood equation. Both are same when 𝜎𝑦 =0
Nadai-Jones Model

The concept of Nadai stress-strain curve model is extended to cover plastic materials with two distinctly different
regions of nonlinear behavior. Nadai-Jones equation is the same until an upper stress where a second highly
nonlinear region is reached:
𝜎
𝜀= 𝜎 ≤ 𝜎𝑦
𝐸

𝜎 𝑛
𝜀 = + 𝐾 𝜎 − 𝜎𝑦 𝜎2 ≥ 𝜎 ≥ 𝜎𝑦
𝐸

𝜎 𝑛 𝑚
𝜀 = + 𝐾 𝜎 − 𝜎𝑦 + 𝐽 𝜎 − 𝜎2 𝜎2 ≥ 𝜎 ≥ 𝜎𝑦
𝐸

Where K and J are constants that depend on upper stresses 𝜎1 and 𝜎3 ,the corresponding plastic strains 𝜀1 𝑝 and
𝜀3 𝑝 and the curve fitting constants n and m

−𝑛
𝐾 = 𝜀1 𝑝 𝜎1 − 𝜎𝑦
−𝑛
𝐽 = 𝜀3 𝑝 𝜎3 − 𝜎𝑦
Analyze the uniaxial deformation of aluminum alloy using different models and determine the strains if the
normal stresses in the x and y direction are 70 MPa and 40 MPa, and the shearing stress on the plane is 30 MPa