Ratcheting Analysis of Steel Plate under Cycling Loading using Dynamic Relaxation Method Experimentally Validated

The present study aimed to introduce a numerical method to study ratcheting strains of rectangular plates. A new numerical analysis was conducted by development of dynamic relaxation method combined with MATLAB software to evaluate the ratcheting behavior of the thin steel plate under mentioned loading condition. In order to verify the results, experimental tests were performed under stress-controlled conditions by a zwick/roell amsler HB100 machine and bending ratcheting of CK45 steel plate at room temperature was studied. Under stress-controlled conditions with non-zero mean stress, ratcheting behavior occurred on thin plate. Moreover, a finite element analysis was carried out by Abaqus using nonlinear isotropic/kinematic (combined) hardening model. The results showed that the rate of ratcheting strain decreased with an increase in cycle number. It was found that the hysteresis loops were wider in experimental method than those of other methods because of more energy dissipation. The numerical results are in a good agreement with the simulation and experimental data. Comparison of errors between these methods obviously demonstrate high accuracy of the new introduced method.