Accounting for plasticity: An extension of inelastic Constitutive Artificial Neural Networks

Abstract: In this work, we extend the existing framework of inelastic constitutive artificial neural networks (iCANNs) by incorporating plasticity to increase their applicability to model more complex material behavior. The proposed approach ensures objectivity, material symmetry, and thermodynamic consistency, providing a robust basis for automatic model discovery of constitutive equations at finite strains. These are predicted by discovering formulations for the Helmholtz free energy and plastic potentials for the yield function and evolution equations in terms of feed-forward networks. Our framework captures both linear and nonlinear kinematic hardening behavior. Investigation of our model's prediction showed that the extended iCANNs successfully predict both linear and nonlinear kinematic hardening behavior based on experimental and artificially generated datasets, showcasing promising capabilities of this framework. Nonetheless, challenges remain in discovering more complex yield criteria with tension-compression asymmetry and addressing deviations in experimental data at larger strains. Despite these limitations, the proposed framework provides a promising basis for incorporating plasticity into iCANNs, offering a platform for advancing in the field of automated model discovery.