On error estimates and adaptivity in elastoplastic solids: Applications to the numerical simulation of strain localization in classical and Cosserat continua

The a posteriori error estimates based on the post-processing approach are introduced for elastoplastic solids. The standard energy norm error estimate established for linear elliptic problems is generalized here to account for the presence of internal variables through the norm associated with the complementary free energy. This is known to represent a natural metric for the class of elastoplastic problems of evolution. In addition, the intrinsic dissipation functional is utilized as a basis for a complementary a posteriori error estimates. A posteriori error estimates and adaptive refinement techniques are applied to the finite element analysis of a strain localization problem. As a model problem, the constitutive equations describing a generalization of standard J₂-elastoplasticity within the Cosserat continuum are used to overcome serious limitations exhibited by classical continuum models in the post-instability region. The proposed a posteriori error estimates are appropriately modified to account for the Cosserat continuum model and linked with adaptive techniques in order to simulate strain localization problems. Superior behaviour of the Cosserat continuum model in comparison to the classical continuum model is demonstrated through the finite element simulation of the localization in a plane strain tensile test for an elastopiastic softening material, resulting in convergent solutions with an h-refinement and almost uniform error distribution in all considered error norms.