Inelastic evaluation of mechanical and structural components using the generalized local stress strain method of analysis Original Research Article

A simple and systematic method for carrying out inelastic evaluations of mechanical components and structures on the basis of two linear elastic finite element analyses is presented in this paper. The degree of interaction between the local and remainder regions is characterized by studying the relaxation response on the generalized local stress strain (GLOSS) diagram. GLOSS analysis is applied to several problems of practical interest involving multiaxial stress relaxation, follow-up, low cycle fatigue, plastic collpase and issues pertaining to the classification of stresses in pressure components. The results generated by the finite element method compare favourably with those obtained by GLOSS analysis.