Virtual elements for finite thermo-plasticity problems

The paper outlines a multi-dimensional virtual element scheme for the coupled thermo-mechanical response of finite strain plasticity problems. The virtual element method (VEM) has been developed over the last decade and applied to problems in elasticity for small strains and other areas in the linear range. Enlargements of VEM to problems of compressible and incompressible nonlinear elasticity and finite plasticity have been reported in the last years. This work is further extending VEM to problems of 2D and 3D finite strain thermo-plasticity. Several numerical results substantiate our developments. For comparison purposes, results of different finite element discretization schemes are demonstrated as well.