Elastic moduli of cubic polycrystals

The averaged elastic constants of polycrystals can be found by averaging the stresses (Voigt method [1]) or the strains (Reuss method [2]). Comparison of the elastic moduli, averaged according to Voigt and Reuss, with the experimental values shows that in the first case averaging gives values that are too high, and in the second values that are too low [3]. The reason for this is that direct averaging of the moduli with respect to arbitrary orientations of the crystallites does not take account of correlation effects. There are two ways of allowing for such correlations between polycrystal grains.     

Evaluation of the elastic moduli of a transversely isotropic aggregate of cubic crystals

The crystals and the aggregate have the same bulk modulus. The other three overall elastic moduli in the simplified stress-strain relations of Walpole (1985) are placed between upper and lower, Voigt and Reuss, bounds and some exact calculations are given for particular fibre textures.     

A variational approach to the theory of the elastic behaviour of polycrystals

Variational principles for anisotropic and nonhomogeneous elasticity, established by the authors in a previous paper, have been applied to the derivation of lower and upper bounds for the elastic moduli of polycrystals in terms of the moduli of the constituting crystals. The results hold for arbitrary crystal shapes. Explicit results tor cubic polycrystals showed that the present bounds are a considerable improvement of the well-known Voigt and Reuss bounds. Good agreement with experimental results has been obtained.     

Theory of the elastic moduli of a heterogeneous medium

It is shown that the theory of random functions permits the expansion of the effective tensor X~jkl for the elastic moduli with respect to correlation functions and that it leads in the second approximation in the Voigt-Reuss scheme to values that lie to one side of the Xijkl, while in the third approximation it brackets the latter. The analysis is used to refine the Hashin limits to the elastic moduli for a mechanical mixture of isotrcpic components and polycrystalline aggregates of cubic structure.There are two methods for calculating the effective elastic moduli of heterogeneous solids: virial expansion [2] (as a power series in the concentration of one of the components) and the method of correlation functions [2] (expansion with respect to relative fluctuation of the elastic moduli). Identical results should be obtained in the two cases if all terms are incorporated, but great mathematical difficulties restrict one to the lowest approximations. The first approximation in the virial method gives better results when the concentration of one component is low, while the method of correlation functions gives better results when the fluctuations in the elastic moduli are small and the concentrations are similar.Methods have been developed for determining the upper and lower bounds in both approaches, and various schemes of averaging are used for this purpose in the correlation-function method. The upper bound is established by renormalizing the equation of equilibrium, while the lower one is found by renormalizing the equation of incompatibility. The range of the bracketing can be reduced by means of higher approximations. The range can be reduced in the limit to zero, which implies passing from an approximate effective tensor to the true one, which relates the means in stress and strain over the material. Here we show that the two methods of renormalization give identical results when all terms of the series are summed.If the tensor has a Gaussian distribution, the moment functions of odd order are zero, while the even ones are expressed via combinations of the binary functions [3]. However, a mechanical mixture of several components is not Gaussian, and the odd moments are not zero. Splitting of the higher-order correlation functions is possible also for mechanical mixtures having determinate phase interfaces, but this involves various simplifying assumptions. A derivation is given for a moment of arbitrary order, which allows one to formulate the conditions under which such splitting is possible. The results are used in calculating the exact value of the effective bulk modulus for a medium with a homogeneous shear modulus.We are indebted to V. V. Bolotin for a discussion.     

Rigorous bounds on the effective moduli of composites and inhomogeneous bodies with negative-stiffness phases

We review the theoretical bounds on the effective properties of linear elastic inhomogeneous solids (including composite materials) in the presence of constituents having non-positive-definite elastic moduli (so-called negative-stiffness phases). Using arguments of Hill and Koiter, we show that for statically stable bodies the classical displacement-based variational principles for Dirichlet and Neumann boundary problems hold but that the dual variational principle for traction boundary problems does not apply. We illustrate our findings by the example of a coated spherical inclusion whose stability conditions are obtained from the variational principles. We further show that the classical Voigt upper bound on the linear elastic moduli in multi-phase inhomogeneous bodies and composites applies and that it imposes a stability condition: overall stability requires that the effective moduli do not surpass the Voigt upper bound. This particularly implies that, while the geometric constraints among constituents in a composite can stabilize negative-stiffness phases, the stabilization is insufficient to allow for extreme overall static elastic moduli (exceeding those of the constituents). Stronger bounds on the effective elastic moduli of isotropic composites can be obtained from the Hashin–Shtrikman variational inequalities, which are also shown to hold in the presence of negative stiffness.     

On the Generation of Discrete Isotropic Orientation Distributions for Linear Elastic Cubic Crystals

We consider a model for the elastic behavior of a polycrystalline material based on volume averages. In this case the effective elastic properties depend only on the distribution of the grain orientations. The aggregate is assumed to consist of a finite number of grains each of which behaves elastically like a cubic single crystal. The material parameters are fixed over the grains. An important problem is to find discrete orientation distributions (DODs) which are isotropic, i.e., whose Voigt and Reuss averages of the grain stiffness tensors are isotropic. We succeed in finding isotropic DODs for any even number of grains N≥4 and uniform volume fractions of the grains. Also, N=4 is shown to be the minimum number of grains for an isotropic DOD. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

On consistent micromechanical estimation of macroscopic elastic energy,coherence energy and phase transformation strains for SMA materials

An apparatus of micromechanics is used to isolate the key ingredients entering macroscopic Gibbs free energy function of a shape memory alloy (SMA) material. A new self-equilibrated eigenstrains influence moduli (SEIM) method is developed for consistent estimation of effective (macroscopic) thermostatic properties of solid materials, which in microscale can be regarded as amalgams of n-phase linear thermoelastic component materials with eigenstrains. The SEIM satisfy the self-consistency conditions, following from elastic reciprocity (Betti) theorem. The method allowed expressing macroscopic coherency energy and elastic complementary energy terms present in the general form of macroscopic Gibbs free energy of SMA materials in the form of semilinear and semiquadratic functions of the phase composition. Consistent SEIM estimates of elastic complementary energy, coherency energy and phase transformation strains corresponding to classical Reuss and Voigt conjectures are explicitly specified. The Voigt explicit relations served as inspiration for working out an original engineering practice-oriented semiexperimental SEIM estimates. They are especially conveniently applicable for an isotropic aggregate (composite) composed of a mixture of n isotropic phases. Using experimental data for NiTi alloy and adopting conjecture that it can be treated as an isotropic aggregate of two isotropic phases, it is shown that the NiTi coherency energy and macroscopic phase strain are practically not influenced by the difference in values of austenite and martensite elastic constants. It is shown that existence of nonzero fluctuating part of phase microeigenstrains field is responsible for building up of so-called stored energy of coherency, which is accumulated in pure martensitic phase after full completion of phase transition. Experimental data for NiTi alloy show that the stored coherency energy cannot be neglected as it considerably influences the characteristic phase transition temperatures of SMA material.     

An exact solution for micromechanical analysis of periodically layered composites

This paper presents an exact solution for effective properties and local fields of periodic layered composites, obtained based on variational asymptotic method for unit cell homogenization, a recently developed micromechanics modeling framework. The layered composites could be made of multiple general anisotropic layers. This solution reproduces some published results when specialized to layered composites made of two orthotropic or isotropic layers and is located within the correctly interpreted bounds of the rules of mixtures according to Voigt and Reuss. It is also emphasized in this paper that the rules of mixtures according to Voigt and Reuss are absolute upper and lower bounds for the effective properties of layered composites if the bounds are interpreted in terms of the stiffness matrix or the fourth-order elasticity tensor. The confusion in a few recent papers regarding effective Young's modulus of layered isotropic composites could exceed the Voigt and Reuss estimates is clarified.     

The asymptotic homogenization elasticity tensor properties for composites with material discontinuities

The classical asymptotic homogenization approach for linear elastic composites with discontinuous material properties is considered as a starting point. The sharp length scale separation between the fine periodic structure and the whole material formally leads to anisotropic elastic-type balance equations on the coarse scale, where the arising fourth rank operator is to be computed solving single periodic cell problems on the fine scale. After revisiting the derivation of the problem, which here explicitly points out how the discontinuity in the individual constituents’ elastic coefficients translates into stress jump interface conditions for the cell problems, we prove that the gradient of the cell problem solution is minor symmetric and that its cell average is zero. This property holds for perfect interfaces only (i.e., when the elastic displacement is continuous across the composite’s interface) and can be used to assess the accuracy of the computed numerical solutions. These facts are further exploited, together with the individual constituents’ elastic coefficients and the specific form of the cell problems, to prove a theorem that characterizes the fourth rank operator appearing in the coarse-scale elastic-type balance equations as a composite material effective elasticity tensor. We both recover known facts, such as minor and major symmetries and positive definiteness, and establish new facts concerning the Voigt and Reuss bounds. The latter are shown for the first time without assuming any equivalence between coarse and fine-scale energies (Hill’s condition), which, in contrast to the case of representative volume elements, does not identically hold in the context of asymptotic homogenization. We conclude with instructive three-dimensional numerical simulations of a soft elastic matrix with an embedded cubic stiffer inclusion to show the profile of the physically relevant elastic moduli (Young’s and shear moduli) and Poisson’s ratio at increasing (up to 100 %) inclusion’s volume fraction, thus providing a proxy for the design of artificial elastic composites.     

Stiffness and strength of hierarchical polycrystalline materials with imperfect interfaces

In this study we investigate the effect of imperfect (not perfectly bonded) interfaces on the stiffness and strength of hierarchical polycrystalline materials. As a case study we consider a honeycomb cellular polycrystal used for drilling and cutting tools. The conclusions of the analysis are, however, general and applicable to any material with structural hierarchy. Regarding the stiffness, generalized expressions for the Voigt and Reuss estimates of the bounds to the effective elastic modulus of heterogeneous materials are derived. The generalizations regard two aspects that are not included in the standard Reuss and Voigt estimates. The first novelty consists in considering finite thickness interfaces between the constituents undergoing damage up to final debonding. The second generalization consists of interfaces not perpendicular or parallel to the loading direction, i.e., when isostress or isostrain conditions are not satisfied. In this case, approximate expressions for the effective elastic modulus are obtained by performing a computational homogenization approach. In the second part of the paper, the homogenized response of a representative volume element (RVE) of the honeycomb cellular polycrystalline material with one or two levels of hierarchy is numerically investigated. This is put forward by using the cohesive zone model (CZM) for finite thickness interfaces recently proposed by the authors and implemented in the finite element program FEAP. From tensile tests we find that the interface nonlinearity significantly contributes to the deformability of the material. Increasing the number of hierarchical levels, the deformability increases. The RVE is tested in two different directions and, due to different orientations of the interfaces and Mixed Mode deformation, anisotropy in stiffness and strength is observed. Stiffness anisotropy is amplified by increasing the number of hierarchical levels. Finally, the interaction between interfaces at different hierarchical levels is numerically characterized. A condition for scale separation, which corresponds to the independence of the material tensile strength from the properties of the interfaces in the second level, is established. When this condition is fulfilled, the material microstructure at the second level can be efficiently replaced by an effective homogeneous continuum with a homogenized stress–strain response. From the engineering point of view, the proposed criterion of scale separation suggests how to design the optimal microstructure of a hierarchical level to maximize the material tensile strength. An interpretation of this phenomenon according to the concept of flaw tolerance is finally presented.     

Estimates for the elastic moduli of random trigonal polycrystals and their macroscopic uncertainty

Explicit expressions of the upper and lower estimates on the macroscopic elastic moduli of random trigonal polycrystals are derived and calculated for a number of aggregates, which correct our earlier results given in Pham [Pham, D.C., 2003. Asymptotic estimates on uncertainty of the elastic moduli of completely random trigonal polycrystals. Int. J. Solids Struct. 40, 4911–4924]. The estimates are expected to predict the scatter ranges for the elastic moduli of the polycrystalline materials. The concept of effective moduli is reconsidered regarding the macroscopic uncertainty of the moduli of randomly inhomogeneous materials.     

Ultrasonic attenuation in polycrystals using a self-consistent approach

The self-consistent method of averaging elastic moduli to define the effective medium of a polycrystal is used to investigate the dynamic problem of wave propagation. An alternative covariance tensor describing the elastic moduli fluctuations of the polycrystal containing self-consistent elastic properties is derived and found to be significantly smaller than the covariance tensor formed through traditional Voigt averaging. Attenuation curves are generated using the self-consistent elastic moduli and covariance tensors and these results are compared with previous Voigt-averaged estimates. The second-order polycrystalline dispersion relation for the self-consistent scheme is found for cases of low and high crystallite anisotropy. The attenuation coefficients and dispersion relations derived through the self-consistent scheme are considerably different than previous estimates. Experimentally measured longitudinal attenuation coefficients support the use of the self-consistent scheme for estimation of attenuation.     

The elastic moduli estimation of the solid-water mixture

Conceptually, the undrained elastic constants estimated by the poroelasticity theory should be identical to the effective moduli of the two-phase composite of a porous material saturated with pore water. Here we show numerically that the undrained elastic constants determined by an effective moduli estimate are almost identical with those calculated by poroelasticity theory, and if pore shapes are not exactly known and the porosity is around 50%, estimating the elastic constant as the average value of its Voigt and Reuss bounds is reasonably accurate. This is the situation in bone and dentin, the materials that are our primary intended application. This result will hold for situations in which the totally enclosed water phase is constrained to small deformations by virtue of its confinement. Importantly, in this work we assume that water is an isotropic elastic solid with a shear modulus that is 10^?4 times the bulk modulus of the water. Note that it is compressible, but almost incompressible with a Poisson’s ratio of 0.4999.     

Hill–Mandel condition and bounds on lower symmetry elastic crystals

Despite advances in contemporary micromechanics, there is a void in the literature on a versatile method for estimating the effective properties of polycrystals comprising of highly anisotropic single crystals belonging to lower symmetry class. Basing on variational principles in elasticity and the Hill–Mandel homogenization condition, we propose a versatile methodology to fill this void. It is demonstrated that the bounds obtained using the Hill–Mandel condition are tighter than the Voigt and Reuss [1], [2] bounds, the Hashin–Shtrikman [3] bounds as well as a recently proposed self-consistent estimate by Kube and Arguelles [4] even for polycrystals with highly anisotropic single crystals.     

Bounds for effective elastic moduli of inhomogeneous solid bodies

In connection with the extensive use of various kinds of inhomogeneous materials (glass, carbon and boron reinforced plastics, cermets, concrete, reinforced materials, etc.) in technology, there arises a need to calculate the elastic properties of such systems. Here in each case it is necessary to work out specific methods for finding both elastic fields and effective moduli. Since, as a rule, such methods do not take into account the character of distribution of inhomogeneities in space, which is reflected on the form of the central moment functions [1], they can be referred to a single class and, consequently, can be obtained by a common method [2], In the given paper, by means of the method of solution of stochastic problems for microinhomogeneous solid bodies proposed in the work of the author [2], we find elastic fields and effective moduli in an arbitrary approximation. Depending on the choice of parameters, the latter form bounds within which there lie the exact values of the effective moduli. It is shown that the conditions used earlier for finding these parameters [3] are not the best ones. The effective elastic moduli of an inhomogeneous medium are calculated, and bounds, narrower than the bounds formed in [3], are found for them.Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Mekhaniki i Tekhniki, No. 5, pp. 144–150, September–October, 1973.     

Determnation of elasticity constants for microheterogeneous media

The foundations of the theory of stochastically heterogeneous solids were laid a long time ago by Voigt [1J, who developed a method for determining the macroscopic parameters of polycrystalline materials by averaging the appropriate crystallite parameters with respect to orientations. Lifshits and Rozentzveig [2] showed that it was necessary to consider the correlation properties of the field in computations of macroscopic parameters. They calculated the first corrections for the averaged elastic constants of polycrystallites for the case of cubic and hexagonal crystallites. Assuming a low degree of heterogeneity, these authors used an approximation which corresponds to the Born approximation in the theory of scattering [3]. This method and its modifications were subsequently used by several authors for the computation of macroscopic parameters of polycrystallites [4– 6] and of other microheterogeneous materials [8].Moreover, the assumption of a low degree of heterogeneity of the properties is very restrictive. It precludes use of the method in the case of macroscopically isotropic polycrystallites formed from essentially anisotropic crystallite stochastically glass reinforced plastics, and similar microheterogeneous materials. This rises the problem of developing procedures that could be applied in cases of a high degree of heterogeneity. This problem presents serious analytical difficulties, however. It is sufficient to point out that even computation of the second approximation (i.e., the one following the Born approximation) has not yet been completed. Analogous problems in the classical and quantum theories of scattering are also, as a rule, considered only in the Born approximation. More complicated methods (e.g., Feyman's method) make possible only partial summation of infinite sequences in which the result is obtained. A method analogous to that of a selfconsistent field in quantum mechanics [9,10] is promising; however, this method is approximate and the magnitude of its error has not yet been estimated.The possibility of accurate determination of mascroscopic parameters for certain classes of microheterogeneous media was demostrated in [11], in which a detailed analysis was presented of parameters forming a second order tensor and characterizing the distribution in the medium of a certain scalar value obeying an equation similar to the steady-state heat-conduction equation. Accurate formulas for macroscopic coefficients of thermal conductivity (diffusion) were derived for the case of a strongly anisotropic medium and for that of a medium with a high degree of transverse isotropy. We made a comparison with various approximate methods and evaluated their degree of error. This article describes an accurate method of computing macroscopic elastic constants for polycrystalline media with a high degree of anisotropy; for the case of polycrystals with a cubic structure [12] the error margin and range of application of approximate methods are estimated.     

Homogenization of viscoplastic constitutive laws within a phase field approach

The present work provides an original consistent framework for combining different constitutive laws, possibly nonlinear, within diffuse interface models (phase field) by homogenization rather than by mixing the material parameters, such as to offer a greater flexibility. The framework relies on the choice of relevant thermodynamic potentials such that the homogenization schemes are natural choices in the thermodynamic formulation. Thus, it justifies previously proposed classic schemes (Ammar et al., 2009b) and gives clues to explore new schemes (Durga et al., 2013, Mosler et al., 2014) by defining relevant potentials. The proposed framework is illustrated by addressing two issues. First, Reuss and Voigt homogenization schemes are shown to deliver the same kinetics of diffusion-controlled transformations in the pure elastic case in the limit of vanishing diffuse interface width. Second, using the Voigt homogenization scheme, we demonstrate that the influence of viscoplasticity, either isotropic or crystalline, on diffusion-controlled transformations is non-trivial and cannot be inferred from simple qualitative arguments. Depending on the competition between the time scales of diffusion and viscoplasticity, the growth kinetics may exhibit intermediate behaviors between purely chemical and elastic cases. Moreover, it is shown how viscoplasticity can change the morphological stability of growing circular precipitates.     

Bounds on the overall properties of composites with ellipsoidal inclusions

A new model is put forward to bound the effective elastic moduli of composites with ellipsoidal inclusions. In the present paper, transition layer for each ellipsoidal inclusion is introduced to make the trial displacement field for the upper bound and the trial stress field for the lower bound satisfy the continuous interface conditions which are absolutely necessary for the application of variational principles. According to the principles of minimum potential energy and minimum complementary energy, the upper and lower bounds on the effective elastic moduli of composites with ellipsoidal inclusions are rigorously derived. The effects of the distribution and geometric parameters of ellipsoidal inclusions on the bounds of the effective elastic moduli are analyzed in details. The present upper and lower bounds are still finite when the bulk and shear moduli of ellipsoidal inclusions tend to infinity and zero, respectively. It should be mentioned that the present method is simple and needs not calculate the complex integrals of multi-point correlation functions. Meanwhile, the present paper provides an entirely different way to bound the effective elastic moduli of composites with ellipsoidal inclusions, which can be developed to obtain a series of bounds by taking different trial displacement and stress fields.     

Size-dependent shear buckling response of FGM skew nanoplates modeled via different homogenization schemes

The size effects on the shear buckling behaviors of skew nanoplates made of functionally graded materials (FGMs) are presented. The material properties are supposed to be changed uniformly from the ceramic phase to the metal one along the plate thickness. To estimate the associated effective material properties, various homogenization schemes including the Reuss model, the Voigt model, the Mori-Tanaka model, and the Hashin-Shtrikman bound model are used. The nonlocal elasticity theory together with the oblique coordinate system is applied to the higher-order shear deformation plate theory to develop a size-dependent plate model for the shear buckling analysis of FGM skew nanoplates. The Ritz method using Gram-Schmidt shape functions is used to solve the size-dependent problem. It is found that the significance of the nonlocality in the reduction of the shear buckling load of an FGM skew nanoplate increases for a higher value of the material property gradient index. Also, by increasing the skew angle, the critical shear buckling load of an FGM skew nanoplate enhances. This pattern becomes a bit less significant for a higher value of the material property gradient index. Furthermore, among various homogenization models, the Voigt and Reuss models in order estimate the overestimated and underestimated shear buckling loads, and the difference between them reduces by increasing the aspect ratio of the skew nanoplate.     

End Effects for Anti-Plane Shear Deformations of Periodically Laminated STrips with Imperfect Bonding

The axial decay of Saint-Venant end effects is investigated for anti-plane shear deformations of semi-infinite generally laminated anisotropic strips. Imperfect bonding conditions are imposed at the interfaces. The analytical approach, using a displacement field which decays exponentially in the axial direction, gives rise to a transcendental equation for the real eigenvalues. The decay rate for the stresses is given in terms of the smallest positive eigenvalue. Laminated strips with periodic layout are then considered. In the presence of imperfect bonding, the effective shear elastic moduli, computed through a homogenization method, depend on the total number of slipping interfaces in the laminate. Numerical examples confirm that the decay lengths computed with effective shear moduli represent the asymptotic values (for an increasing number of layers) for those of periodically laminated strips. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.