A Simplified Transient Hardening Formulation for Modeling Stress–Strain Response Under Multiaxial Nonproportional Cyclic Loading

Accurate estimation of material stress–strain response is essential to many fatigue life analyses. In cases where variable amplitude loading conditions exist, the ability to account for transient material deformation behavior can be particularly important due to the potential for periodic overloads and/or changes in the degree of nonproportional stressing. However, cyclic plasticity models capable of accounting for these complex effects often require the determination of a large number of material constants. Therefore, an Armstrong–Frederick–Chaboche style plasticity model, which was simplified in a previous study, was extended in the current study to account for the effects of both general cyclic and nonproportional hardening using a minimal number of material constants. The model was then evaluated for its ability to predict stress–strain response under complex multiaxial loading conditions by using experimental data generated for 2024-T3 aluminum alloy, including a number of cyclic incremental step tests. The model was found to predict transient material response within a fairly high overall level of accuracy for each loading history investigated.