Dynamic cylindrical cavity expansion in an incompressible elastoplastic medium

Summary Self-similar dynamic expansion of a pressurized circular cylindrical cavity, embedded in an infinite elastoplastic incompressible medium, is here investigated with the large strain J₂ flow theory. Assuming steady-state conditions, thus bypassing the initial loading history, it is shown that plane-strain fields are sustained with no diverging logarithmic stress appearing in the remote elastic field. Yet, even in the absence of remotely applied stress, the appearance of small stresses at infinity is unavoidable. The present solution is exact but limited to relatively low cavity expansion velocities. A closed form expression is given for the cavitation pressure with elastic/perfectly-plastic response. A fairly general result is derived for the cavitation pressure in hardening media with a definite yield point and in linear-hardening solids as a special case. Contact is made with earlier results of quasi-static cavity expansion along with a comparison to the self-similar dynamic expansion of a spherical cavity in an incompressible Mises solid. Upper and lower bounds for penetration depth tests are suggested by using the present cylindrical cavitation model and the incompressible spherical cavitation model.