Steady-state flow in classical elastoplasticity: Applications to repeated rolling and sliding contact

The sthady-state assumption is used to analyse mechanical problems involving moving loads. A general formulation in the case of elastoplasticity is given. A uniqueness theorem is proved. An efficient and reliable algorithm for the calculation of stresses and strains either for an arbitrary number of loading passes or directly for the stabilized state is presented. Two numerical procedures are proposed: (i) the pass-by-pass stationary method (PPSM) which rigorously treats the case of a single load pass; (ii) the direct stationary method (DSM) going straight to the steady state in the case of a repeatedly moving load. Although the scope of application of these methods is wide, numerical results obtained in the case of rolling and sliding contact only are presented and compared with already published results.