NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF PLASTIC FLOW BY FINITE ELEMENT LIMIT ANALYSIS

Limit analysis has been rendered versatile in many problems such as structural problems and metal forming problems. In metal forming analysis, a slip-line method and an upper bound method approach to limit solutions is considered as the most challenging areas. In the present work, a general algorithm for limit solutions of plastic flow is developed with the use of finite element limit analysis. The algorithm deals with a generalized Holder inequality, a duality theorem, and a combined smoothing and successive approximation in addition to a general procedure for finite element analysis. The algorithm is robust such that from any initial trial solution, the first iteration falls into a convex set which contains the exact solution(s) of the problem. The idea of the algorithm for limit solution is extended from rigid/perfectly-plastic materials to work-hardening materials by the nature of the limit formulation, which is also robust with numerically stable convergence and highly efficient computing time.