Theory of Plasticity for Engineers: Concepts and Applications

By Prof. Amirtham Rajagopal | IIT Hyderabad

Learners enrolled: 310 | Exam registration: 9

ABOUT THE COURSE:

This NPTEL course provides a comprehensive understanding of plasticity, damage mechanics, and high strain rate behavior, focusing on the fundamentals, applications, and computational aspects of plasticity and its interaction with damage in materials. The course is structured into four modules: Module 1 covers the basics of plasticity, including stress-strain relations, yield criteria, and plastic stress-strain relations. Module 2 explores the application of plasticity in metals, reinforced concrete, and composites, including failure criteria and fracture models. Module 3 delves into plasticity-based damage models, covering material damage mechanisms, continuum damage mechanics, and inelastic damage theories. Module 4 focuses on the plasticity for high strain rate behavior, covering the fundamentals of blast and impact models, rate effects during crack growth, and computational aspects of plasticity. This course integrates theoretical knowledge with practical applications, aimed at professionals and researchers in the fields of material science and structural engineering.

INTENDED AUDIENCE:

Post-graduate M.Tech ,MS students

Core course for Ph.D students

3^rd or 4^th Year B.tech Students as Elective Course or Honors Course. Of the following branches

Civil / Mechanical/ Aerospace/ Applied Mechanics/ Computational Engineering Course

PREREQUISITES:

Engineering Mechanics

Mechanics of Solids

Theory of Elasticity

INDUSTRY SUPPORT:

General Electric

General Motors

Larsen and Tubro

FEM software companies like ABAQUS/ANSYS/ COMSOL

Summary

Course Status :	Ongoing
Course Type :	Core
Language for course content :	English
Duration :	12 weeks
Category :	Civil Engineering Structural Analysis
Credit Points :	3
Level :	Undergraduate/Postgraduate
Start Date :	19 Jan 2026
End Date :	10 Apr 2026
Enrollment Ends :	02 Feb 2026
Exam Registration Ends :	13 Feb 2026
Exam Date :	17 Apr 2026 IST
NCrF Level	4.5 — 8.0

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

Page Visits

Course layout

Week 1: Introduction to Plasticity and Elastic Stress-Strain Relations

Week 2: Fundamentals of Yield and Failure Criteria

Week 3: Foundations of Plasticity and Plastic Stress-Strain Relations

Week 4: Metal Plasticity and Elasto-Plastic Analysis for Composite Materials

Week 5: Concrete Elasticity and Failure Criteria

Week 6: Fracture Models for Concrete

Week 7: Mechanisms and Representation of Material Damage Models

Week 8: Damage Mechanics: Constitutive Models, Energy Criteria

Week 9: Inelastic Damage theory and Anisotropic Damage Models

Week 10: Elastic-Plastic Damage and Ductile Fracture Mechanics

Week 11: Plasticity for High-Strain-Rate Behaviour of Concrete

Week 12: Computational Aspects of Plasticity

Books and references

1. Chen, W.F., and Han, D.J., Plasticity for Structural Engineers,” Springer-Verlag, New York, 1988

2. Voyiadjis, G. Z., & Kattan, P. I. Advances in Damage Mechanics: Metals and Metal Matrix Composites with an Introduction to Fabric Tensors. Elsevier, 2nd edition, 2006.

3. Chen, W.-F. (2007). Plasticity in Reinforced Concrete. J. Ross Publishing.

4. Murakami, Sumio. Continuum Damage Mechanics: Theory and Applications. Springer, 1999.

5. Freund, L. B. Dynamic Fracture Mechanics. Cambridge University Press, 1998.

Instructor bio

Prof. Amirtham Rajagopal

IIT Hyderabad

Professor Amirtham Rajagopal has been a full professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at IIT Hyderabad since August 2010. He previously worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Erlangen Neurenberg, Germany, from 2007 to 2010. He obtained his PhD from IIT Madras. He also obtained his M.Tech from SJCE Mysore, VT University, in 2000 and B.Tech from Bangalore University in 1997. He has over 18 years of Teaching and research experience.

Course certificate

The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.

The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).

Date and Time of Exams: April 17, 2026 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.

Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.

The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.

Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.

CRITERIA TO GET A CERTIFICATE

Average assignment score = 25% of average of best 8 assignments out of the total 12 assignments given in the course.
Exam score = 75% of the proctored certification exam score out of 100

Final score = Average assignment score + Exam score

Please note that assignments encompass all types (including quizzes, programming tasks, and essay submissions) available in the specific week.

YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A CERTIFICATE ONLY IF AVERAGE ASSIGNMENT SCORE >=10/25 AND EXAM SCORE >= 30/75. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >= 40/100.

Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup.It will have the logos of NPTEL and IIT Hyderabad. It will be e-verifiable at nptel.ac.in/noc.

Only the e-certificate will be made available. Hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy learning.

- NPTEL team