Numerical modeling of elasto-plastic porous materials with void shape effects at finite deformations

A new constitutive model for elasto-plastic (rate-independent) porous materials subjected to general three-dimensional finite deformations is presented. The new model results from simple modifications of an earlier model of Kailasam and Ponte Castañeda (1997, 1998) [40,41] so that it reproduces the exact spherical and cylindrical shell solution (composite sphere and composite cylinder assemblage) under purely hydrostatic loadings, while predicting (by calibration) accurately the void shape evolution according to the recent “second-order” model of Danas and Ponte Castañeda [17]. Furthermore, the present model is based on a rigorous homogenization method which is capable of predicting both the constitutive behavior and the microstructure evolution of porous materials. The microstructure is described by voids of arbitrary ellipsoidal shapes and orientations and as a result the material exhibits deformation-induced (or morphological) anisotropy at finite deformations. This is in contrast with the well-known Gurson [32] model which assumes that the voids remain spherical during the deformation process and thus the material remains always isotropic. The present model is implemented numerically in a finite element program where a three-dimensional thin-sheet (butterfly) specimen is subjected to a combination of shear and traction loading conditions in order to examine the effect of stress triaxiality and shearing upon material failure. The ability of the present model to take into account the nontrivial evolution of the microstructure and especially void shape effects leads to the prediction of material failure even at low stress triaxialities and small porosities without the use of additional phenomenological damage criteria. At high stress triaxialities, the present model gives similar predictions as the Gurson model.