Thermal effects on the development of plastic zones in thin axisymmetric plates

Abstract

A simple thermoelastic-plastic problem is solved analytically to show a thermal effect on the development of plastic zones in thin plates. The temperature field is assumed to be uniform but monotonically varying with the time. The material of the plate obeys the von Mises yield criterion with a constant yield stress. It is shown that a negligible rise of temperature may lead to a significant growth of the plastic zone. Even though stress analysis only is needed in the plastic zone to illustrate this effect, a complete closed-form solution to the problem is given.