Influence of hardening rule on the elasto-plastic behaviour of a simple structure under cyclic loading

The modes of cyclic elasto-plastic deformation of a two-bar structure with unequal areas and lengths under the simultaneous action of sustained mechanical load and cyclic thermal history are investigated analytically using three types of elasto-plastic material models: perfectly plastic, linear kinematic hardening and linear isotropic hardening. This simple structure is shown to exhibit much of the behaviour of interest in design of structural components subjected to repeated thermal loads: viz, elastic shakedown, reversed plasticity and ratcheting. The cyclic plastic behaviour of the structure is developed in closed form and the effects of strain hardening, hardening rule and geometrical parameters of the two-bar assembly on the deformation modes are critically examined.