Numerical modeling of creep and creep damage in thin plates of arbitrary shape from materials with different behavior in tension and compression under plane stress conditions

A constitutive model for describing the creep and creep damage in initially isotropic materials with characteristics dependent on the loading type, such as tension. compression and shear, has been applied to the numerical modeling of creep deformation and creep damage growth in thin plates under plane stress conditions. The variational approach of establishing the basic equations of the plane stress problem under consideration has been introduced. For the solution of two-dimensional creep problems, the fourth-order Runge-Kutta-Merson's method of time integration, combined with the Ritz method and R-functions theory, has been used. Numerical solutions to various problems have been obtained, and the processes of creep deformation and creep damage growth in thin plates of arbitrary shape have been investigated. The influence of tension-compression asymmetry on the stress-strain state and damage evolution, with time, in thin plates of arbitrary shape, has been discussed. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.