An efficient method for calculating the evolution of internal variables in an expanding hollow cylinder of rigid/plastic material is proposed. The conventional constitutive equations for rigid plastic, hardening material are supplemented with quite an arbitrary set of evolution laws for internal variables assuming that the material is incompressible. No restriction is imposed on the hardening law. The problem is solved in Lagrangian coordinates. This significantly facilitates a numerical treatment of the problem. In particular, the initial/boundary value problem is reduced to a system of equations in characteristic coordinates. A finite difference scheme is used for solving these equations. An illustrative example is presented assuming that the internal variables are the equivalent plastic strain and a damage parameter.
Keywords: Expansion; Finite difference method; Hollow cylinder; Internal variables; Lagrangian coordinates; Large strains; Rigid plastic material.