EULERIAN FINITE-ELEMENT MODELING OF THE EXTRUSION PROCESS FOR WORK-HARDENING MATERIALS WITH THE EXTENDED CONCEPT OF LIMIT ANALYSIS

Abstract

This paper analyzes the extrusion process for work-hardening materials with the method of finite-element limit analysis. Although limit analysis studies the asymptotic behavior of elastic-plastic materials, its concept can be extended to a class of work-hardening materials. Finite-element limit analysis based on a variational principle of duality consists of limit formulation, finite dimensional approximation, and a minimization technique. Since the finite-element limit analysis guarantees stable convergence and computational efficiency, it is suitable to a class of non-linear solid mechanics problems such as metal-forming processes. Especially, the extrusion process for work-hardening materials is simulated by the present algorithm as a demonstration of its validity and versatility.