On the use of homogeneous polynomials to develop anisotropic yield functions with applications to sheet forming

This paper investigates the capabilities of several non-quadratic polynomial yield functions to model the plastic anisotropy of orthotropic sheet metal (plane stress). Fourth, sixth and eighth-order homogeneous polynomials are considered. For the computation of the coefficients of the fourth-order polynomial an improved set of analytic formulas is proposed. For sixth and eighth-order polynomials the identification uses optimization. Simple constraints on the optimization process are shown to lead to real-valued convex functions. A general method to extend the above plane stress criteria to full 3D stress states is also suggested. Besides their simplicity in formulation, it is found that polynomial yield functions are capable to model a wide range of anisotropic plastic properties (e.g., the Numisheet’93 mild steel, AA2008-T4, AA2090-T3). The yield functions have then been implemented into a commercial finite element code as constitutive subroutines. The deep drawing of square (Numisheet’93) and cylindrical (AA2090-T3) cups have been simulated. In both cases excellent agreement with experimental data is obtained. In particular, it is shown that non-quadratic polynomial yield functions can simulate cylindrical cups with six or eight ears. We close with a discussion on earing and further examples.