Created in COMSOL Multiphysics 5.

Elastoplastic Analysis of Holed Plate

This model is licensed under the COMSOL Software License Agreement 5.6.
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Introduction
In this example you analyze a perforated plate loaded into the plastic regime. In addition
to the original problem, which you can find in section 7.10 of The Finite Element Method
by O.C. Zienkiewicz (Ref. 1), you can also study the unloading of the plate.

The model also shows how to apply an external hardening function based on an
interpolated stress-strain curve.

Model Definition
Figure 1 shows the plate’s geometry. Due to the double symmetry of the geometry you
only need to analyze a quarter of the plate.

Symmetry lines

20 mm
5 mm

36 mm

Figure 1: The plate geometry.

Because the plate is thin and the loads are in plane, you can assume a plane stress condition.

MATERIAL
• Elastic properties: E = 70000 MPa and ν = 0.2.
• Plastic properties: Yield stress 243 MPa and a linear isotropic hardening with tangent
modulus 2171 MPa.

CONSTRAINTS AND LOADS

• Symmetry plane constraints are applied on the leftmost vertical boundary and the lower
horizontal boundary.

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• The right vertical edge is subjected to a stress, which increases from zero to a maximum
value of 133.65 MPa and then is released again. The peak value is selected so that the
mean stress over the section through the hole is 10% above the yield stress
(=1.1·243·(20−10)/20).

Results and Discussion

Figure 2 shows the development of the plastic region. The parameter values are 0.55,
0.65, 0.75, 0.85, 0.95, and 1.05. These values are proportional to the load with a
parameter value 1.0, which corresponds to the yield limit of the average stress over the
cross section through the hole. For a material without strain hardening, the structure
would thus have collapsed before reaching the final load level. Because an elastoplastic
solution is load-path dependent, it is important not to use too large steps in the load
parameter when you anticipate a plastic flow. Usually you can take one large step up to the
elastic limit, as this example shows. Moreover, reversed plastic flow can occur during the
unloading. This is why this study uses small parameter steps at the end of the parameter
range.

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Figure 2: Development of plastic region (red) for parameter values 0.55, 0.65, 0.75, 0.85, 0.95
and 1.05.

Modeling with COMSOL Multiphysics

In this example there are two studies where the only difference is how the hardening data
of the plasticity model is entered. In the first study, you give the data in the most natural
way, since a linear hardening can be entered directly using the tangent modulus.

In the second study, it is shown how to proceed when you have a tabulated data from a
general tensile test. Note that in metal plasticity, the hardening function σh to be entered

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is the stress added to the initial yield stress σys0 as function of the equivalent plastic strain
εpe. Thus, the function must always pass the point (0,0). If your tabulated data contains
total stress versus total strain, the hardening function must thus be written as

σ h ( ε pe ) = σ tab ( ε pe + σ e ⁄ E ) – σ ys0

where, σe is the equivalent (von Mises) stress, E is the Young’s modulus, and σtab is an
interpolation function of your tabulated data. Figure 4 shows the linear elastic and plastic
regions.

Figure 3: The interpolated stress-strain curve shows both the elastic and hardening regions.

The results show in Figure 4 and Figure 5 are in good agreement. In Study 1, isotropic
hardening is generated with an isotropic tangent modulus ETiso = 2.171 GPa, and in
Study 2 it is generated with interpolated hardening function data, which mimics the
isotropic tangent modulus from Study 1.

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Figure 4: Deformation and von Mises stress for parameter value 2.2. The hardening was
implemented with isotropic tangent modulus ETiso = 2.171 GPa.

Figure 5: Deformation and von Mises stress for parameter value 2.2. The hardening was
implemented with the interpolated hardening function.

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Reference
1. O.C. Zienkiewicz and R.L. Taylor, The Finite Element Method, 4th ed., McGraw-Hill,
1991.

Application Library path: Nonlinear_Structural_Materials_Module/

Plasticity/elastoplastic_plate

Modeling Instructions
From the File menu, choose New.

NEW
In the New window, click Model Wizard.

MODEL WIZARD
1 In the Model Wizard window, click 2D.
2 In the Select Physics tree, select Structural Mechanics>Solid Mechanics (solid).
3 Click Add.
4 Click Study.
5 In the Select Study tree, select General Studies>Stationary.
6 Click Done.

GEOMETRY 1
Begin by changing the length unit to millimeters.

1 In the Model Builder window, under Component 1 (comp1) click Geometry 1.

2 In the Settings window for Geometry, locate the Units section.
3 From the Length unit list, choose mm.

Rectangle 1 (r1)
1 In the Geometry toolbar, click Rectangle.
2 In the Settings window for Rectangle, locate the Size and Shape section.
3 In the Width text field, type 18.
4 In the Height text field, type 10.

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5 Click Build Selected.

Circle 1 (c1)
1 In the Geometry toolbar, click Circle.
2 In the Settings window for Circle, locate the Size and Shape section.
3 In the Radius text field, type 5.
4 Click Build Selected.

Difference 1 (dif1)
1 In the Geometry toolbar, click Booleans and Partitions and choose Difference.
2 Select the object r1 only.
3 In the Settings window for Difference, locate the Difference section.
4 Find the Objects to subtract subsection. Select the Activate Selection toggle button.
5 Select the object c1 only.
6 Click Build Selected.

Add a solver parameter for controlling the load expression.

GLOBAL DEFINITIONS

Parameters 1
1 In the Model Builder window, under Global Definitions click Parameters 1.
2 In the Settings window for Parameters, locate the Parameters section.
3 In the table, enter the following settings:

Name Expression Value Description

para 0 0 Horizontal load parameter

DEFINITIONS

Interpolation 1 (int1)
1 In the Home toolbar, click Functions and choose Local>Interpolation.
2 In the Settings window for Interpolation, locate the Definition section.
3 In the Function name text field, type loadfunc.

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4 In the table, enter the following settings:

t f(t)
0 0
1.1 133.65
2.2 0

5 Locate the Units section. In the Arguments text field, type 1.

6 In the Function text field, type MPa.
7 Click Plot.
The interpolation function defines the load function.

SOLID MECHANICS (SOLID)

1 In the Model Builder window, under Component 1 (comp1) click Solid Mechanics (solid).
2 In the Settings window for Solid Mechanics, locate the 2D Approximation section.
3 From the list, choose Plane stress.
4 Locate the Thickness section. In the d text field, type 10[mm].

Linear Elastic Material 1

In the Model Builder window, under Component 1 (comp1)>Solid Mechanics (solid) click
Linear Elastic Material 1.

Linear Hardening
1 In the Physics toolbar, click Attributes and choose Plasticity.
2 In the Settings window for Plasticity, type Linear Hardening in the Label text field.

MATERIALS

Material 1 (mat1)
1 In the Model Builder window, under Component 1 (comp1) right-click Materials and
choose Blank Material.
2 In the Settings window for Material, locate the Material Contents section.

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3 In the table, enter the following settings:

Property Variable Value Unit Property group

Young’s E 70e9 Pa Basic
modulus
Poisson’s nu 0.2 1 Basic
ratio
Density rho 7850 kg/m³ Basic
Initial yield sigmags 243e6 Pa Elastoplastic material model
stress
Isotropic Et 2.171e9 Pa Elastoplastic material model
tangent
modulus

SOLID MECHANICS (SOLID)

Symmetry 1
1 In the Physics toolbar, click Boundaries and choose Symmetry.
2 Select Boundaries 1 and 3 only.

Boundary Load 1
1 In the Physics toolbar, click Boundaries and choose Boundary Load.
2 Select Boundary 4 only.
3 In the Settings window for Boundary Load, locate the Force section.
4 Specify the FA vector as

loadfunc(para) x
0 y

MESH 1

Free Triangular 1
1 In the Mesh toolbar, click Free Triangular.
The mesh should be refined in areas of anticipated high stress and strain gradients.

Refine 1
1 In the Mesh toolbar, click Modify and choose Elements>Refine.
2 In the Settings window for Refine, click to expand the Refine Elements in Box section.
3 Select the Specify bounding box check box.

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4 In row x, set Upper bound to 8.
5 In row y, set Upper bound to 10.
6 In the Model Builder window, right-click Mesh 1 and choose Build All.
The mesh should consist of around 700 elements.

STUDY 1

Step 1: Stationary
Set up an auxiliary continuation sweep for the para parameter.

1 In the Model Builder window, under Study 1 click Step 1: Stationary.

2 In the Settings window for Stationary, click to expand the Study Extensions section.
3 Select the Auxiliary sweep check box.
4 Click Add.
5 In the table, enter the following settings:

Parameter name Parameter value list

para (Horizontal load parameter) 0 range(0.40,0.05,2.2)

With these settings, the edge load you defined earlier increases from zero to a maximum
value of 133.65 MPa and is then released.
6 In the Model Builder window, click Study 1.
7 In the Settings window for Study, type Linear Hardening in the Label text field.
8 In the Home toolbar, click Compute.

RESULTS
The first default plot shows the von Mises stress for the final parameter value.

Stress, Linear Hardening

1 In the Model Builder window, under Results click Stress (solid).
2 In the Settings window for 2D Plot Group, type Stress, Linear Hardening in the
Label text field.

Visualize the plastic zone using a Boolean expression solid.epeGp>0 which is 1 in the
plastic region and 0 elsewhere.

Plastic Region, Linear Hardening

1 In the Model Builder window, under Results click Equivalent Plastic Strain (solid).

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2 In the Settings window for 2D Plot Group, type Plastic Region, Linear Hardening
in the Label text field.

Contour 1
1 In the Model Builder window, expand the Plastic Region, Linear Hardening node, then
click Contour 1.
2 In the Settings window for Contour, locate the Expression section.
3 In the Expression text field, type solid.epeGp>0.

Plastic Region, Linear Hardening

1 In the Model Builder window, click Plastic Region, Linear Hardening.
2 In the Settings window for 2D Plot Group, locate the Data section.
3 From the Parameter value (para) list, choose 0.55.
4 In the Plastic Region, Linear Hardening toolbar, click Plot.
The plot in the Graphics window should now look like that in the upper-left panel of
Figure 2.
5 Repeat steps 3, 4 and 5 for Parameter value (para) 0.65, 0.75, 0.85, 0.95, and 1.05 to
reproduce the remaining subplots in Figure 2.

Hardening with Experimental Stress-Strain Curve and user defined

yield function.
To fit the first study case, the stress-strain curve will be very simple, an elastic slope of
70 GPa and then a plastic slope of 2.171 GPa. Only three points are needed to define the
stress-strain curve in this simple case.

DEFINITIONS

Interpolation 2 (int2)
1 In the Home toolbar, click Functions and choose Local>Interpolation.
2 In the Settings window for Interpolation, locate the Definition section.
3 In the Function name text field, type stress_strain_curve.
4 In the table, enter the following settings:

t f(t)
0 0

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t f(t)
243e6/70e9 243e6
243e6/70e9+50e6/2.171e9 243e6+50e6
5 Locate the Units section. In the Arguments text field, type 1.
6 In the Function text field, type Pa.
7 Locate the Interpolation and Extrapolation section. From the Extrapolation list, choose
Linear.
8 Click Plot.

Add a variable for controlling the hardening.

Variables 1
1 In the Home toolbar, click Variables and choose Local Variables.
2 In the Settings window for Variables, locate the Variables section.
3 In the table, enter the following settings:

Name Expression Unit Description

hardening max(0,stress_strain_curve(solid.epe+ Pa Hardening
solid.mises/solid.E)-solid.sigmags) function

SOLID MECHANICS (SOLID)

Linear Elastic Material 1

In the Model Builder window, under Component 1 (comp1)>Solid Mechanics (solid) click
Linear Elastic Material 1.

Interpolated Hardening and User Defined Plastic Flow

1 In the Physics toolbar, click Attributes and choose Plasticity.
2 In the Settings window for Plasticity, type Interpolated Hardening and User
Defined Plastic Flow in the Label text field.
Define the von Mises stress in terms of the second invariant of the stress tensor.
3 Locate the Plasticity Model section. From the Yield function F list, choose User defined.
4 In the φ(σ) text field, type sqrt(3*solid.II2sEff).
Add a small value to the potential to avoid possible division of zero when evaluating its
derivative at zero stress.
5 From the Plastic potential Q list, choose User defined.

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6 In the Q text field, type sqrt(3*solid.II2sEff+eps).
Use hardening function data and add the hardening function to the material properties.
7 Find the Isotropic hardening model subsection. From the list, choose Hardening function.

MATERIALS

Material 1 (mat1)
1 In the Model Builder window, expand the
Interpolated Hardening and User Defined Plastic Flow node, then click
Component 1 (comp1)>Materials>Material 1 (mat1).
2 In the Settings window for Material, locate the Material Contents section.
3 In the table, enter the following settings:

Property Variable Value Unit Property group

Hardening sigmagh hardening Pa Elastoplastic material model
function

ADD STUDY
1 In the Home toolbar, click Add Study to open the Add Study window.
2 Go to the Add Study window.
3 Find the Studies subsection. In the Select Study tree, select General Studies>Stationary.
4 Click Add Study in the window toolbar.
5 In the Home toolbar, click Add Study to close the Add Study window.

STUDY 2

Step 1: Stationary
1 In the Settings window for Stationary, locate the Study Extensions section.
2 Select the Auxiliary sweep check box.
3 Click Add.
4 In the table, enter the following settings:

Parameter name Parameter value list

para (Horizontal load parameter) 0 range(0.40,0.05,2.2)

The solver settings are the same as in the previous study.

5 In the Model Builder window, click Study 2.

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6 In the Settings window for Study, type Interpolated Hardening and User Defined
Plastic Flow in the Label text field.
7 In the Home toolbar, click Compute.

RESULTS

Stress, Interpolated Hardening and User Defined Plastic Flow

The first default plot of the second study shows the von Mises stress for the final parameter
value.

1 In the Settings window for 2D Plot Group, type Stress, Interpolated Hardening
and User Defined Plastic Flow in the Label text field.

Plastic Region, Interpolated Hardening and User Defined Plastic Flow

1 In the Model Builder window, under Results click Equivalent Plastic Strain (solid).
2 In the Settings window for 2D Plot Group, type Plastic Region, Interpolated
Hardening and User Defined Plastic Flow in the Label text field.

Contour 1
1 In the Model Builder window, expand the Plastic Region,
Interpolated Hardening and User Defined Plastic Flow node, then click Contour 1.
2 In the Settings window for Contour, locate the Expression section.
3 In the Expression text field, type solid.epeGp>0.

The analysis is now finished. If you want to store this model and re-use it later, you will
need to disable the second plasticity feature for the first study.

LINEAR HARDENING

Step 1: Stationary
1 In the Model Builder window, under Linear Hardening click Step 1: Stationary.
2 In the Settings window for Stationary, locate the Physics and Variables Selection section.
3 Select the Modify model configuration for study step check box.
4 In the Physics and variables selection tree, select Component 1 (comp1)>
Solid Mechanics (solid)>Linear Elastic Material 1>
Interpolated Hardening and User Defined Plastic Flow.
5 Click Disable.

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