A LARGE TIME INCREMENT APPROACH FOR CYCLIC VISCOPLASTICITY

The principles of a new approach for cyclic viscoplastic problems are described in this paper. A computational method of dealing with nonlinear mechanical behaviours, described by internal variables, is presented. This approach contrasts with the classical step-by-step method since it is an iterative procedure that accounts for the whole loading process in a single time increment. Special tools have been developed to simulate, within the large time increment method, several hundred cycles in a single increment. The feasibility of this strategy is shown through simple examples, with a large number of cycles in the case of viscoplastic behaviour.