Initial cyclic hardening behavior of cracked structures under large-amplitude cyclic loading

[Display omitted] •A hardening model is proposed to simulate deformation of cracked structure under large amplitude cyclic loading.•Cyclic C(T) tests for TP304 stainless steel is performed with two load amplitudes.•FE debonding analysis is applied to develop the proposed hardening model.•The model calculates isotropic hardening in the first loading cycle.•From the unloading of the first cycle, a Chaboche combined hardening model is used. A new cyclic hardening model is proposed based on combined experimental and numerical analyses to simulate the deformation of a cracked structure under large amplitude cyclic loading. In the experiment conducted herein, compact tension specimen tests made of TP304 stainless steel were subjected to large-amplitude cyclic loading. Then, finite element (FE) analysis was performed using the ABAQUS debond option to develop a cyclic hardening model. In the proposed cyclic hardening law, isotropic hardening was calculated in the first loading cycle. To assess the unloading of the first cycle, a Chaboche combined hardening model was used. The model results agreed well with the experimental displacement data. The effects of hardening in the first loading cycle on the yield surface and equivalent plastic strains in the subsequent cycles are presented as well.