A large strain finite volume method for orthotropic bodies with general material orientations

This paper describes a finite volume method for orthotropic bodies with general principal material directions undergoing large strains and large rotations. The governing and constitutive relations are presented and the employed updated Lagrangian mathematical model is outlined. In order to maintain equivalence with large strain total Lagrangian methods, the constitutive stiffness tensor is updated transforming the principal material directions to the deformed configuration. Discretisation is performed using the cell-centred finite volume method for unstructured convex polyhedral meshes. The current methodology is successfully verified by numerically examining two separate test cases: a circular hole in an orthotropic plate subjected to a traction and a rotating orthotropic plate containing a hole subjected to a pressure. The numerical predictions have been shown to agree closely with the available analytical solutions. In addition, a 3-D composite component is examined to demonstrate the capabilities of the developed methodology in terms of a variable material orientation and parallel processing.