Elastic-plastic finite element analysis of flat plates with projections subjected to axial and shear loading

• Main Author: Pipelzadeh, M. K.
• Published: Swansea University 1993
• Subjects: 620.110287
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.638537

Projections on flat plates have wide applications in the field of engineering. They are often used for transmitting loads between two or more parts. Although extensive investigations have been performed for many forms of loading, little information on the elastic and elastic-plastic behaviour of such components under shear loading is available. Parameters such as elastic stress, plastic stress and elastic-plastic strain concentration factors, in addition to the multiaxial elastic-plastic behaviour, are necessary in order to determine static design and fatigue life predictions for such components. In this test, the elastic and elastic-plastic behaviour of flat plates with projections subjected to axial and shear loading is investigated using finite element analysis. The effects of geometry, loading, boundary conditions and material models on the finite element prediction of stress and strain are studied. In the elastic analysis, a wide range of geometries are considered under axial and shear loading. The effect of the component restraints is also considered, using a plane stress assumption throughout the analysis. In addition, plane strain and 3 dimensional cases are compared with the plane stress results. For shear loading, the plane stress results provide a reasonable estimate for predictions using other models. However, for axial loading, an overestimate is achieved, thus providing a conservative estimate. In the elastic-plastic analysis, 6 geometries are selected in order to study the behaviour and mechanisms of the component subjected to various load cases such as axial, shear, combined axial + repeated shear and steady axial + reversed shear loading. Three simple material models with time-independent bi-linear stress-strain representations are assumed namely, elastic-perfectly-plastic, elastic-kinematic-hardening and elastic-isotropic-hardening. The stress and strain range predictions for combined loading are found to be independent of the steady axial load.