| Abstract: | The restrictions imposed by the form-invariance principle on the structure of the elasto-plastic constitutive law for small strains are examined. It is shown that the yield and plastic potential functions may depend on the joint invariants of the stress and plastic strain tensors in addition to their dependence on the direct invariants of these tensors and additional scalar hardening parameters such as the plastic work; inclusion of the joint invariants as parameters in the constitutive functions allows for induced anisotropy during plastic deformation. It is demonstrated that the physical meaning of the joint invariants is related to the deviation of the principal directions of the stress tensor from those of the plastic strain tensor. It is also shown that only three cases of anisotropy (orthorhombic, transverse and isotropy) are possible in the types of material models discussed herein. The model proposed in this paper does not imply coaxiality between the principal directions of the stress and, plastic strain increment tensors; however, implications of the assumption of coaxiality on the structure of the constitutive equations is investigated. It is shown that coaxiality does not necessarily imply isotropy, but no deviations from coaxiality can be expected in isotropic materials. |
