Consistency in Solving the Inverse Problem of the Voce-Chaboche Constitutive Model for Plastic Straining

This paper focuses on an inverse problem involving a commonly used material model in structural steel applications—the Voce-Chaboche model. In particular, the paper proposes an approach focused on obtaining a consistent set of material parameters that accurately represents a wide range of mechanical uniaxial cyclic load histories. The main focus of the methodology presented here is its application to structural steels in the field of earthquake engineering. A set of load protocols representative of seismic loading are proposed for this purpose. It is shown that the calibration procedure optimally leverages Voce-Chaboche’s ability to describe the material response to an arbitrary load history. Parameters for prevailing American, European, and Japanese structural steels are also proposed.