This thesis presents experimental results of constant and variable amplitude uniaxial loading of magnesium AZ31 alloy sheets at room temperature. A Prandtl rheological model is presented for modelling the complex response of magnesium AZ31 alloy based on the Prandtl-Ishlinskii hysteresis operators. From the known material response to constant amplitude uniaxial loading, the Prandtl rheological model provides a fast and accurate simulation of the magnesium AZ31 alloy response to arbitrary uniaxial loading under isothermal conditions. For calculating the strain energy dissipated in magnesium alloy AZ31 during cyclic loading, a Prandtl energy model is presented which is based on the Prandtl rheological model. The strain energy is calculated continuously throughout the loading procedure, the main advantage of the Prandtl energy model being independence from the incremental step size. This approach gives a fast and accurate calculation of the dissipated strain energy which can be used for estimating the fatigue life of magnesium alloys.
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