Studies in anisotropic plasticity with reference to the Hill criterion

Algorithms based upon the notion of return mapping have been developed for the Hill yield function of anisotropic plasticity. The relative accuracy of two algorithms is assessed by means of iso‐error maps. The choice of the algorithm turns out to be much more critical for the orthotropic Hill criterion than for the underlying isotropic von Mises plasticity model. A tangent operator that is consistent with the developed integration algorithm is formulated and its efficiency is assessed compared with the classical continuum tangent operator. The model has been applied to three shell/plate structures.