Explicit forms for the tangent modulus tensor in viscoplastic stress analysis

Viscoplastic constitutive models typically lead to compliance (strain–stress) relationships, which must be inverted for use in the finite element displacement method. Computational requirements can be increased significantly for models of practical size due to the large number of matrix inversions which are necessary. This paper describes a method of obtaining the required stress–strain relations analytically, thus eliminating the need for numerous matrix inversions in the solution. The technique is applicable to a number of commonly‐used viscoplastic models, as demonstrated in the examples.