Numerical Analysis of Axisymmetric Wave Propagation in Elastic-plastic Layered Media

A brief review of the literature (8,16,22,34) will reveal that the analysis of wave motions in layered solid media presents formidable analytic difficulties. These difficulties are magnified if the material behavior is nonlinear or inelastic. In particular any analytic solution of elastic-plastic wave motions is faced with having to consider the following: (a) moving elastic-plastic boundaries whose positions at a given time are not known beforehand, and (b) unloading waves that may be generated, giving rise to a moving interface between the unloading and plastic regions of the material. In the consideration of wave propagation involving,inelastic material, numerical methods of analysis are often the only feasible way to obtain solutions in a form that can be used for engineering purposes. Even then, approximations and idealizations of the real problem are invariably necessary.National Science Foundation. Research Grant No. NSF-GK 58