ON THE DESCRIPTION OF ANISOTROPIC PLASTIC-FLOW BY THE SCALE-INVARIANCE APPROACH

A recently proposed framework for deriving macroscopic equations of pl asticity from the configuration of single slip is extended to describe anisotropic yield conditions and the corresponding flow rules. The me thod is centered about a proper maximization procedure for the plastic work rate at the microscale. This procedure, along with a scale invar iance argument, results in various classes of flow rules including iso tropic/kinematic hardening, frictional, vertex type, and transversely isotropic behavior. In particular, a failure condition for fiber reinf orced composites is derived and compared with available experimental d ata.