Meso cell model of fiber reinforced composite: Interface stress statistics and debonding paths

The primary goal of this work is to develop an efficient analytical tool for the computer simulation of progressive damage in the fiber reinforced composite (FRC) materials and thus to provide the micro mechanics-based theoretical framework for a deeper insight into fatigue phenomena in them. An accurate solution has been obtained for the micro stress field in a meso cell model of fibrous composite. The developed method combines the superposition principle, Kolosov–Muskhelishvili’s technique of complex potentials and Fourier series expansion. By using the properly chosen periodic potentials, the primary boundary-value problem stated on the multiple-connected domain has been reduced to an ordinary, well-posed set of linear algebraic equations. The meso cell can include up to several hundred inclusions which is sufficient to account for the micro structure statistics of composite. The presented numerical examples demonstrate an accuracy and high numerical efficiency of the method which makes it to be a promising tool for studying progressive damage in FRCs. By averaging over a number of random structure realizations, the statistically meaningful results have been obtained for both the local stress and effective elastic moduli of disordered fibrous composite. A special attention has been paid to the interface stress statistics and the fiber debonding paths development, which appear to correlate well with the experimental observations.     

Transverse conductivity and longitudinal shear of elliptic fiber composite with imperfect interface

The paper addresses the problem of calculating the local fields and effective transport properties and longitudinal shear stiffness of elliptic fiber composite with imperfect interface. The Rayleigh type representative unit cell approach has been used. The micro geometry of composite is modeled by a periodic structure with a unit cell containing multiple elliptic inclusions. The developed method combines the superposition principle, the technique of complex potentials and certain new results in the theory of special functions. An appropriate choice of the potentials provides reducing the boundary-value problem to an ordinary, well-posed set of linear algebraic equations. The exact finite form expression of the effective stiffness tensor has been obtained by analytical averaging the local gradient and flux fields. The convergence of solution has been verified and the parametric study of the model has been performed. The obtained accurate, statistically meaningful results illustrate a substantial effect of imperfect interface on the effective behavior of composite.     

Effective longitudinal shear moduli of periodic fibre-reinforced composites with radially-graded fibres

This paper presents a closed-form expression for the homogenized longitudinal shear moduli of a linear elastic composite material reinforced by long, parallel, radially-graded circular fibres with a periodic arrangement. An imperfect linear elastic fibre-matrix interface is allowed. The asymptotic homogenization method is adopted, and the relevant cell problem is addressed. Periodicity is enforced by resorting to the theory of Weierstrass elliptic functions. The equilibrium equation in the fibre domain is solved in closed form by applying the theory of hypergeometric functions, for new wide classes of grading profiles defined in terms of special functions. The effectiveness of the present analytical procedure is proved by convergence analysis and comparison with finite element solutions. A parametric analysis investigating the influence of microstructural and material features on the effective moduli is presented. The feasibility of mitigating the shear stress concentration in the composite by tuning the fibre grading profile is shown.     

Stress concentration and effective stiffness of aligned fiber reinforced composite with anisotropic constituents

The paper addresses the problem of calculation of the local stress field and effective elastic properties of a unidirectional fiber reinforced composite with anisotropic constituents. For this aim, the representative unit cell approach has been utilized. The micro geometry of the composite is modeled by a periodic structure with a unit cell containing multiple circular fibers. The number of fibers is sufficient to account for the micro structure statistics of composite. A new method based on the multipole expansion technique is developed to obtain the exact series solution for the micro stress field. The method combines the principle of superposition, technique of complex potentials and some new results in the theory of special functions. A proper choice of potentials and new results for their series expansions allow one to reduce the boundary-value problem for the multiple-connected domain to an ordinary, well-posed set of linear algebraic equations. This reduction provides high numerical efficiency of the developed method. Exact expressions for the components of the effective stiffness tensor have been obtained by analytical averaging of the strain and stress fields.     

Electromechanical response of (3–0, 3–1) particulate,fibrous, and porous piezoelectric composites with anisotropic constituents: A model based on the homogenization method

An analytical framework based on the homogenization method has been developed to predict the effective electromechanical properties of periodic, particulate and porous, piezoelectric composites with anisotropic constituents. Expressions are provided for the effective moduli tensors of n-phase composites based on the respective strain and electric field concentration tensors. By taking into account the shape and distribution of the inclusion and by invoking a simple numerical procedure, solutions for the electromechanical properties of a general anisotropic inclusion in an anisotropic matrix are obtained. While analytical forms are provided for predicting the electroelastic moduli of composites with spherical and cylindrical inclusions, numerical evaluation of integrals over the composite microstructure is required in order to obtain the corresponding expressions for a general ellipsoidal particle in a piezoelectric matrix. The electroelastic moduli of piezoelectric composites predicted by the analytical model developed in the present study demonstrate excellent agreement with results obtained from three-dimensional finite-element models for several piezoelectric systems that exhibit varying degrees of elastic anisotropy.     

Interfacial debonding of two-phase composite with periodic structure

A mixed analytical-numerical (boundary element method) procedure is presented for estimating the effective elastic moduli of a two-phase periodic composite by application of a unit cell. The two-phase composite consists of a metal/polymer matrix and one/three circular ceramic inclusions with adhesive and partial debonding of the interface. The results are displayed numerically with special attention given to development of plastic zones as debonding occurs. Dependence of load-time history is exhibited.     

Homogenization for wave propagation in periodic fibre-reinforced media with complex microstructure. I—Theory

The effective elastic properties of periodic fibre-reinforced media with complex microstructure are determined by the method of asymptotic homogenization via a novel solution to the cell problem. The solution scheme is ideally suited to materials with many fibres in the periodic cell. In this first part of the paper we discuss the theory for the most general situation—N arbitrarily anisotropic fibres within the periodic cell. For ease of exposition we then restrict attention to isotropic phases which results in a monoclinic composite material with 13 effective moduli and expressions for each of these are determined. In the second part of this paper we shall discuss results for a variety of specific microstructures.     

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.     

Asymptotic determination of effective elastic properties of composite materials with fibrous square-shaped inclusions

We propose an asymptotic approach for evaluating effective elastic properties of two-components periodic composite materials with fibrous inclusions. We start with a nontrivial expansion of the input elastic boundary value problem by ratios of elastic constants. This allows to simplify the governing equations to forms analogous to the transport problem. Then we apply an asymptotic homogenization method, coming from the original problem on a multi-connected domain to a so called cell problem, defined on a characterizing unit cell of the composite. If the inclusions' volume fraction tends to zero, the cell problem is solved by means of a boundary perturbation approach. When on the contrary the inclusions tend to touch each other we use an asymptotic expansion by non-dimensional distance between two neighbouring inclusions. Finally, the obtained “limiting” solutions are matched via two-point Padé approximants. As the results, we derive uniform analytical representations for effective elastic properties. Also local distributions of physical fields may be calculated. In some partial cases the proposed approach gives a possibility to establish a direct analogy between evaluations of effective elastic moduli and transport coefficients. As illustrative examples we consider transversally-orthotropic composite materials with fibres of square cross section and with square checkerboard structure. The obtained results are in good agreement with data of other authors.     

The effective elastic moduli of columnar composites made of cylindrically anisotropic phases with rough interfaces

The present work aims to determine the effective elastic moduli of a composite having a columnar microstructure and made of two cylindrically anisotropic phases perfectly bonded at their interface oscillating quickly and periodically along the circular circumferential direction. To achieve this objective, a two-scale homogenization method is elaborated. First, the micro-to-meso upscaling is carried out by applying an asymptotic analysis, and the zone in which the interface oscillates is correspondingly homogenized as an equivalent interphase whose elastic properties are analytically and exactly determined. Second, the meso-to-macro upscaling is accomplished by using the composite cylinder assemblage model, and closed-form solutions are derived for the effective elastic moduli of the composite. Two important cases in which rough interfaces exhibit comb and saw-tooth profiles are studied in detail. The analytical results given by the two-scale homogenization procedure are shown to agree well with the numerical ones provided by the finite element method and to verify the universal relations existing between the effective elastic moduli of a two-phase columnar composite.     

含柔性涂层的颗粒增强复合材料弹性模量估计

采用线弹簧型弱界面模型来模拟柔性涂层,研究柔性涂层对复合材料宏观弹性模量的影响。首先利用Mori-Tanaka方法和弱界面球形夹杂问题的弹性解,获得单夹杂内部的平均应力和平均应变,进而求得具有柔性涂层的复合材料的宏观弹性模量,并研究界面柔度对复合材料弹性模量的影响。     

Homogenization methods to approximate the effective response of random fibre-reinforced Composites

In this article a fibre-reinforced composite material is modelled via an approach employing a representative volume element with periodic boundary conditions. The effective elastic moduli of the material are thus derived. In particular, the method of asymptotic homogenization is used where a finite number of fibres are randomly distributed within the representative periodic cell. The study focuses on the efficacy of such an approach in representing a macroscopically random (hence transversely isotropic) material. Of particular importance is the sensitivity of the method to cell shape, and how this choice affects the resulting (configurationally averaged) elastic moduli. The averaging method is shown to yield results that lie within the Hashin–Shtrikman variational bounds for fibre-reinforced media and compares well with the multiple scattering and (classical) self-consistent approximations with a deviation from the latter in the larger volume fraction cases. Results also compare favourably with well-known experimental data from the literature.     

含正交排列夹杂和缺陷材料的等效弹性模量和损伤

研究含正交排列夹杂和缺陷材料的等效弹性模量和损伤,推导了以Eshelby－Mori－Tanaka方法求解多相各向异性复合材料等效弹性模量的简便计算公式,针对含三相正交椭球状夹杂的正交各向异性材料,得到了由细观参量（夹杂的形状、方位和体积分数）表示的等效弹性模量的解析表达式．在此基础上,提出了一个宏细观结合的正交各向异性损伤模型,从而建立了以细观量为参量的含损伤材料的应力应变关系．最后,对影响材料损伤的细观结构参数进行了分析．     

Micromechanics-based elastic damage modeling of particulate composites with weakened interfaces

A micromechanical framework is proposed to predict the effective elastic behavior and weakened interface evolution of particulate composites. The Eshelby’s tensor for an ellipsoidal inclusion with slightly weakened interface [Qu, J., 1993a. Eshelby tensor for an elastic inclusion with slightly weakened interfaces. Journal of Applied Mechanics 60 (4), 1048–1050; Qu, J., 1993b. The effect of slightly weakened interfaces on the overall elastic properties of composite materials. Mechanics of Materials 14, 269–281] is adopted to model spherical particles having imperfect interfaces in the composites and is incorporated into the micromechanical framework. Based on the Eshelby’s micromechanics, the effective elastic moduli of three-phase particulate composites are derived. A damage model is subsequently considered in accordance with the Weibull’s probabilistic function to characterize the varying probability of evolution of weakened interface between the inclusion and the matrix. The proposed micromechanical elastic damage model is applied to the uniaxial, biaxial and triaxial tensile loadings to predict the various stress–strain responses. Comparisons between the present predictions with other numerical and analytical predictions and available experimental data are conducted to assess the potential of the present framework.     

功能梯度界面相对周期分布纤维增强复合材料反平面剪切的影响

基于复变函数理论和边界配点法,探索了功能梯度界面相在周期均匀分布纤维增强复合材料反平面剪切问题中所起的作用。由于纤维在复合材料基体中的周期分布是均匀的,将其简化成含一功能梯度界面相夹杂的方形单胞。采用分层均匀化方法,将功能梯度界面相离散成K层界面层。当K足够大时,每个界面层可视为匀质材料,同时计算得到的复合材料宏观性能趋于定值。根据单胞内的基体、界面相和夹杂的几何外形特点,分别给出复势函数的级数形式,这些复势函数在各组分的相邻界面应满足连续性条件,在单胞的外边界应满足周期性边界条件和远场加载条件,从而确定复势函数中的待定系数,进而根据平均场理论确定复合材料有效模量。主要探讨了夹杂体积分数、各组分模量、功能梯度界面相的模量渐变形式等因素对纤维增强复合材料性能的影响。结果表明：不管基体模量相对于夹杂模量是大还是小,都有对应的界面相模量渐变形式可使夹杂周围的等效应力集中系数减小;另外还发现仅当夹杂模量较大时,功能梯度界面相模量的变化方式对复合材料有效模量产生不可忽视的影响。     

Evaluation of elastic moduli of bilaminate filament-wound composites

This paper investigates the elastic behavior of bilaminate-composite coupons segmented from a filament-wound rocket case and of a laboratory prepared flat panel for direct tension-compression and flexural loading under static and dynamic conditions. New methods of testing have been developed which are primarily applicable to composite constructions. The dynamic test consists of exciting the primary free-free resonant mode of a specimen. Flexure tests utilizing a unique pure-bend system are employed for the static evaluations. The composite moduli determined from the static and dynamic test are compared with analytic values. The analytic values for the composite are derived from tension-compression and flexure analytical models using the material properties of the constituents. The measured elastic moduli compared favorably with analytical prediction and are indicative of the history of loading effects as well as the crazed condition of the composite constructions. The moduli determined by the dynamic test showed the closest agreement with analytic values, with a difference of 0 to 16 percent.     

Differential geometrical method in elastic composite with imperfect interfaces

I.IntroductionWhethertheinterfacesofcompositematerialsareperfectornotwillaffectitsmacromechanicaloreffectivepropertiesimportantly.Butsofar,almostallofthestudiesontheeffectivepropertiesofcompositematerialsarebasedontheassumptionthattheinterfacesareperfectl"2].Infact,thisisnotappropriateforallinterfaces[31.Thusthestudiesonmechanicalpropertyofcompositematerialswithimperfaceintert'acehavebeenconsideredrecentlyinsomeliteratures.Hashin16]hasextendedtheelasticextremumprinciplesofminimumpotentialandm…     

Asymptotic study of geometrically non-linear elastic strip with regular system of fibres

Two-dimensional composite material consisting of linear elastic fibres embedded in a non-linear elastic strip has been studied. That inhomogeneous medium models a mechanical behaviour of a rubber-like textile reinforced with threads distributed in parallel. The analytical solution relating the displacement field to fibre width, fibre distance, fibre length and fibre and matrix elastic moduli has been derived. To this end we used a special perturbation and homogenization technique. Anlustrative example is also provided.     

Effective elastic shear stiffness of a periodic fibrous composite with non-uniform imperfect contact between the matrix and the fibers

In this contribution, effective elastic moduli are obtained by means of the asymptotic homogenization method, for oblique two-phase fibrous periodic composites with non-uniform imperfect contact conditions at the interface. This work is an extension of previous reported results, where only the perfect contact for elastic or piezoelectric composites under imperfect spring model was considered. The constituents of the composites exhibit transversely isotropic properties. A doubly periodic parallelogram array of cylindrical inclusions under longitudinal shear is considered. The behavior of the shear elastic coefficient for different geometry arrays related to the angle of the cell is studied. As validation of the present method, some numerical examples and comparisons with theoretical results verified that the present model is efficient for the analysis of composites with presence of imperfect interface and parallelogram cell. The effect of the non uniform imperfection on the shear effective property is observed. The present method can provide benchmark results for other numerical and approximate methods.     

Size-dependent effective thermoelastic properties of nanocomposites with spherically anisotropic phases

Composites made of semi-crystalline polymers and nanoparticles have a spherulitic microstructure which can be reasonably represented by a spherically anisotropic volume element. Due to the high surface-to-volume ratio of a nanoparticle, the particle-matrix interface stress, usually neglected in determining the effective elastic moduli of particle-reinforced composites, may have a non-negligible effect. To account for the latter in estimating the effective thermoelastic properties of a composite consisting of nanoparticles embedded in a semi-crystalline polymeric matrix, this work adopts a coherent interface model for the nanoparticle-matrix interface and proposes an extended version of the classical generalized-self consistent method. In particular, Eshelby's formulae widely used to calculate the elastic energy change of a homogeneous medium due to the introduction of an inhomogeneity are extended to the thermoelastic case. The nanoparticle size effect on the effective thermoelastic moduli of the composite are theoretically shown and numerically illustrated.