Observations on additive plasticity in the logarithmic strain space at excessive strains

Additive plasticity in the logarithmic strain space is compared to multiplicative plasticity for various loading cases including coaxial and non-coaxial plastic deformations. Even though both finite plasticity approaches are based on total Lagrangian descriptions, the former is popular due to its inherent similarity to the infinitesimal theory and its easy extensibility. However, since its introduction several limitations of additive plasticity in the logarithmic strain space have been discovered. In this study, these problems such as stress rotation and softening are considered, revealing that fundamental differences compared to multiplicative plasticity occur for non-coaxial plastic deformations. We focus in particular on the observed softer response of the additive based approach, which is analysed in depth using three numerical examples including two well-known benchmarks for finite plasticity. By means of these finite element simulations the softer and possibly even localising response of additive plasticity in the logarithmic strain space is confirmed.