On anisotropic elasticity and questions concerning its finite element implementation

Vergori, L., Destrade, M., McGarry, P. and Ogden, R. (2013) On anisotropic elasticity and questions concerning its finite element implementation. Computational Mechanics, 52(5), pp. 1185-1197. (doi: 10.1007/s00466-013-0871-6)

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Abstract

We give conditions on the strain–energy function of nonlinear anisotropic hyperelastic materials that ensure compatibility with the classical linear theories of anisotropic elasticity. We uncover the limitations associated with the volumetric–deviatoric separation of the strain–energy used, for example, in many Finite Element (FE) codes in that it does not fully represent the behavior of anisotropic materials in the linear regime. This limitation has important consequences. We show that, in the small deformation regime, a FE code based on the volumetric–deviatoric separation assumption predicts that a sphere made of a compressible anisotropic material deforms into another sphere under hydrostatic pressure loading, instead of the expected ellipsoid. For finite deformations, the commonly adopted assumption that fibres cannot support compression is incorrectly implemented in current FE codes and leads to the unphysical result that under hydrostatic tension a sphere of compressible anisotropic material deforms into a larger sphere.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Ogden, Professor Raymond and Vergori, Dr Luigi
Authors: Vergori, L., Destrade, M., McGarry, P., and Ogden, R.
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Mathematics and Statistics > Mathematics
Journal Name:Computational Mechanics
ISSN:0178-7675
ISSN (Online):1432-0924

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