LECTURE 11+12

Plasticity. Yield and failure criteria

Yield Criteria
In uniaxial loading, plastic flow begins when = 0, the tensile yield stress.
When does yielding begin when a material is subjected to an arbitrary state stress?

Yield Criteria for Metals

Pure hydrostatic pressure or mean stress tensor, m, doesnt cause yielding in metals.
Only the deviatoric stress, ij, which represents the shear stresses, causes plastic flow.
For an isotropic solid, the yield criterion must be independent of the choice of the axes,
i.e., it must be an invariant function.
Yield criterion must be some function of the Js.

Definition
In uniaxial state of stress, the point of failure or yield of material is obvious. In a simple
tension tests is the yield stress, 0, while in a simple shear test, it is the yield stress 0. Under
combined state of stress however, we need some criterion that defines the elastic limits of a
material. In general, the elastic limit or yield stress is a function of the state of stress and
some material constants, determined experimentally:

For isotropic materials, the orientation of the principal stress does not matter and the use of
stress invariants is sufficient:

The yield criterion allows us to distinguish the passive (elastic) processes from neutral (at
the edge) or active (plastic) ones.

Geometrical visualization
The Mohr circles are an image of stress state and possible solutions for the transformation of
the coordinates.

The Haigh-Westergaard space is the space with the set of principal stress coordinates.
Some intersections of particular planes with the yield/failure surface are of interest. The axis,
which is equally inclined to all axes, is hydrostatic axis (mean stress axis). The Meldahl
surface or deviatoric surface is the surface perpendicular to the mean stress axis. The surface
passing through the hydrostatic axis is the meridian plane, where its angle describes angle
between the meridian plane and the first principal axis. Another cross-section is the section
by the plane of i = 0, for the plane state of stress. Sometimes, the same set of coordinates
||, like for Mohrs circles, is the best choice to present the yielding/failure criterion.

For instance, the Rankine criterion of failure of materials having different tensile and
compression strengths (like the concrete), in Haigh-Westergaard space is a cube located
eccentrically. Inside the cube, the stress level is safe and its boundary means failure. From the
hydrostatic axis direction of view, the cross-section of the cube by the deviatoric plane is
triangular or hexagonal, depending of the hydrostatic stress value (of the choice of the crosssection point). The tensile meridian (0 degrees) and compression meridian (60 degrees) are
straight lines. The cross-section by a plane 3 = 0, for the plane state of stress, is an
eccentrically positioned square. In the set of coordinates ||, it is in the shape of two
straight lines.

We can express the principal stress values in terms of the hydrostatic stress value (the
distance from the origin to the deviatoric plane, ), the length of the stress vector in the
deviatoric plane, , and an angle of the meridian plane, :

Yield criteria independent of hydrostatic pressure

In the following text the Roman indexes mean algebraically ordered principal values:

The Coulomb Tresca Guest criterion (max. shear stress criterion)

Yielding occurs when the max. shear stress reaches the value of shear yield stress in
the uniaxial tension test.

The yield would occur when the maximum shearing stress reaches a critical value k.
Comparing the combined stress state with uniaxial tension:

we get:
We can rewrite the yield surface in terms of stress invariants:

or in terms of deviatoric plane variables:

in plane state of stress is a hexagon and in s - t plane is an ellipse:

Remarks:
Predicts the same stress for yielding in uniaxial tension and in pure shear.
Less complicated mathematically than von Mises criterion.
Often used in engineering design.
Need to know apriori the max. and min. principal stresses.
General form:

The Huber Mises Hencky criterion

The yield would occur when the octahedral shearing stress reaches a critical value k (density
of the internal energy of the shape change).
Yielding would occur when J2 exceeds some critical value J2=k2

The von Mises yield criterion suggests that the yielding of materials begins when the second
deviatoric stress invariant J2 reaches a critical value. For this reason, it is sometimes called
the J2-plasticity or J2 flow theory. It is part of a plasticity theory that applies best to ductile
materials, such as metals. Prior to yield, material response is assumed to be elastic.
In materials science and engineering the von Mises yield criterion can be also formulated in
terms of the von Mises stress or equivalent tensile stress.
A material is said to start yielding when its von Mises stress reaches a critical value known as
the yield strength. The von Mises stress is used to predict yielding of materials under any
loading condition from results of simple uniaxial tensile tests. The von Mises stress satisfies
the property that two stress states with equal distortion energy have equal von Mises stress.
Because the von Mises yield criterion is independent of the first stress invariant, J1, it is
applicable for the analysis of plastic deformation for ductile materials such as metals, as the
onset of yield for these materials does not depend on the hydrostatic component of the stress
tensor.
Comparing the combined stress state with uniaxial tension:

we get:

in terms of stress invariants:

or in terms of deviatoric plane variables is a circle with radius:

in plane state of stress is ellipse:

and in - plane is an ellipse:

The following table summarizes von Mises yield criterion for the different stress conditions.

Physical interpretation of the von Mises yield criterion

Hencky (1924) offered a physical interpretation of von Mises criterion suggesting that
yielding begins when the elastic energy of distortion reaches a critical value. For this, the von
Mises criterion is also known as the maximum distortion strain energy criterion. This
comes from the relation between J2 and the elastic strain energy of distortion WD:
with the elastic shear modulus
Comparison of CTG and HMH:

Tresca's criterion is one of two main failure criteria used today for ductile materials. The
second important criterion is due to von Mises.

Comparison of Tresca and Von Mises Criteria

In the figure is shown Tresca's maximum shear stress criterion (dashed line). Observe that
Tresca's yield surface is circumscribed by von Mises's. Therefore, it predicts plastic yielding
already for stress states that are still elastic according to the von Mises criterion. As a model
for plastic material behavior, Tresca's criterion is therefore more conservative.
Plastic Stress-Strain Relations

In elastic regime, the stress-strain relations are uniquely determined by the Hookes law;
In plastic deformation, the strains also depend on the history of loading.

It is necessary to determine the differentials or increments of plastic strains throughout the

loading path and then obtain the total strain by integration.
Two general categories of plastic stress-strain relationships exist.

 Incremental or flow theories relate stresses to plastic strain increments.

Deformation or total strain theories relate the stresses to total plastic strains. Simpler
mathematically.
Levy-Mises Equations
Ideal plastic solids where elastic strains are negligible
Prandtl-Reuss Equations
For elastic-plastic solid considering elastic strains as well.
Both are the same for proportional loading!

Idealised flow curves. (a) Rigid-ideal plastic material; (b) ideal plastic-elastic region; (c)
strain-hardening material

Finally, General Theory of Plasticity requires the following:

1) A yield criterion, which specifies the onset of plastic deformation for different
combinations of applied load.
e.g. von Mises and Tresca
2) A hardening rule, which prescribes the work hardening of the material and the change in
yield condition with the progression of plastic deformation.
Isotropic or kinematic: power-law hardening
3) A flow rule which relates increments of plastic deformation to the stress components.
e.g. Levy-Mises or Prandtal-Reuss