On higher-order boundary conditions at elastic-plastic boundaries in strain-gradient plasticity

A computational method for dealing with higher order boundary conditions on moving elastic-plastic boundaries in strain gradient plasticity is proposed. The basic idea is to skip the notion of a purely elastic regime, and instead introduce a pseudo-elastic regime, where plastic deformations are suppressed by using a very high artificial hardening modulus. Through numerical studies of pure bending under plane strain conditions, it is shown that this method predicts the build-up of higher order stresses in the pseudo-elastic regime. This has the effect of delaying the onset of incipient yield, as well as extending the plastic zone further toward the neutral axis of the beam, when compared to conventional models. Arguments supporting the present method are presented that rest on both mathematical and physical grounds. The results obtained are compared with other methods for dealing with higher order boundary conditions at internal elastic-plastic boundaries.