This paper on "Limit and Shakedown Analysis Using a General Purpose Finite Element Code" was presented at the NAFEMS World Congress on Design, Simulation & Optimisation: Reliability & Applicability of Computational Methods - 9-11 April 1997, Stuttgart, Germany.

Abstract

Limit and shakedown theorems are exact theories of classical plasticity for the direct computation of safety factors or of the load carrying capacity under constant and varying loads. They are implemented in a general purpose FEM code in a way capable of large-scale analysis. The method deviates from the current approach in several aspects: No load history is used, the field quantities are not calculated, and the solution is obtained from a mathematical optimization problem. The approach needs considerably less input data and computer time than incremental plastic analyses.