A micromechanical analysis of elastoplastic behavior of porous materials

In this paper, we present a micromechanical analysis of elastoplastic behavior of porous materials. The non-uniform transformation field analysis (NTFA) is used and the non-uniform distribution of local plastic strain in the solid matrix is taken into account. Comparisons with the classical Gurson's model and standard FEM solution are presented.     

A two scale model of porous rocks with Drucker-Prager matrix: Application to a sandstone

The present paper is devoted to a micromechanical model of porous rocks and its application to a sandstone. This original model takes advantage of a recent homogenization-based macroscopic yield function which couples Drucker-Prager type plasticity of the solid matrix and evolving porosity. Its formulation and implementation are described. Application to a Vosges sandstone shows that, except for very low confining pressures for which the mechanical behavior is quasi-brittle, the model predicts well the ductile behavior at moderate or high confining pressures (for which the pore collapse mechanism is expected to play a dominant role).     

Some micromechanical aspects of failure in granular materials based on second-order work

This paper discusses the notion of failure in a granular assembly by examining the key microstructural mechanisms which are most likely to trigger the nucleation and propagation of instabilities within a granular material. For this purpose, the key variable to predict the occurrence of failure, known as second-order work, is expressed from variables on the grain scale. The local behaviour incidents (where contacts may open or slide), compared to the global response of the assembly, are analysed by two approaches. First, numerical computations made by a discrete element model confirm the microscopic definition of the second-order work. Secondly, a micromechanical model, based on a homogenization procedure, relating the macroscopic behaviour to microscopic ingredients, namely contact planes, points to a close link between the occurrence of failure on the macroscopic scale as well as on the contact planes.     

Experimental characterization and micromechanical modeling of superelastic response of a porous NiTi shape-memory alloy

Porous shape-memory alloys are usually brittle due to the presence of various nickel-titanium intermetallic compounds that are produced in the course of most commonly used synthesizing techniques. We consider here a porous NiTi shape-memory alloy (SMA), synthesized by spark-plasma sintering, that is ductile and displays full shape-memory effects over the entire appropriate range of strains. The porosity however is only 12% but the basic synthesizing technique has potential for producing shape-memory alloys with greater porosity that still are expected to display superelasticity and shape-memory effects. The current material has been characterized experimentally using quasi-static and dynamic tests at various initial temperatures, mostly within the superelastic strain range, but also into the plastic deformation regime of the stress-induced martensite phase. To obtain a relatively constant strain rate in the high strain-rate tests, a novel pulse-shaping technique is introduced. The results of the quasi-static experiments are compared with the predictions by a model that can be used to calculate the stress-strain response of porous NiTi shape-memory alloys during the austenite-to-martensite and reverse phase transformations in uniaxial quasi-static loading and unloading at constant temperatures. In the austenite-to-martensite transformation, the porous shape-memory alloy is modeled as a three-phase composite with the parent phase (austenite) as the matrix and the product phase (martensite) and the voids as the embedded inclusions, reversing the roles of austenite and martensite during the reverse transformation from fully martensite to fully austenite phase. The criterion of the stress-induced martensitic transformation and its reversal is based on equilibrium thermodynamics, balancing the thermodynamic driving force for the phase transformation, associated with the reduction of Gibbs’ free energy, with the resistive force corresponding to the required energy to create new interface surfaces and to overcome the energy barriers posed by various microstructural obstacles. The change in Gibbs’ free energy that produces the driving thermodynamic force for phase transformation is assumed to be due to the reduction of mechanical potential energy corresponding to the applied stress, and the reduction of the chemical energy corresponding to the imposed temperature. The energy required to overcome the resistance imposed by various nano- and subnano-scale defects and like barriers, is modeled empirically, involving three constitutive constants that are then fixed based on the experimental data. Reasonably good correlation is obtained between the experimental and model predictions.     

Effect of inner gas pressure on the elastoplastic behavior of porous materials: A second-order moment micromechanics model

A new micromechanics model based on the second-order moment of stress is established to investigate the effect of gas pressure on the nonlinear macroscopic constitutive relationship of the porous materials. The analytical method agrees well with numerical simulation based on the finite element method. Through a systematic study, we find that the gas pressure has a prominent effect on the nonlinear deformation behavior of the porous materials. The gas pressure can cause tension–compression asymmetry on the uniaxial stress–strain curve and the nominal Poisson’s ratio. The pore pressure significantly reduces the initial yield strength and failure strength of the porous metals, especially when the relative density of the material is small. The gas phase also strongly compromises the composite strength when the temperature is increased. The model may be useful for the evaluation of mechanical integrity of porous materials under various working conditions and working temperatures.     

A micromechanical model for polycrystalline creep with grain boundary cavitation

Summary  A micromechanical model is developed to describe effects such as combined power-law creep and diffusion, grain boundary sliding and cavitation in polycrystals. Several aspects of creep-constrained cavitation are taken into account such as diffusion in a cage of creeping matrix material and cavitating facets in a cage of creeping grains. Grain boundary sliding is modelled by distributed micro-shearcracks. It is shown that the different physical mechanisms and their interactions are functions of a well-defined material parameter λ, which can be related to the material length scale L introduced by Rice. Received 18 January 2000; accepted for publication 17 May 2000     

A macroscopic model for materials reinforced by flexible membranes

A macroscopic model is presented aimed at assessing the macroscopic elastic behaviour of materials reinforced by periodically distributed flexible membranes. According to this model, called multiphase model, the reinforced material is described not as a single homogenized continuum as in the classical homogenization approach, but as the superposition of two mutually interacting continuous media, namely the matrix phase and the reinforcement phase. It is shown in particular how such a model allows to capture both scale and boundary effects, which cannot be accounted for in a classical homogenization procedure.     

On a micromechanical fracture model for cracked reinforced composites

The fracture process of reinforced composite materials is examined. In the outer region of the crack tip anisotropic continuum mechanics is employed, while for the crack tip region a heterogeneous micromechanical model is proposed. A solution is obtained using combined boundary layer — non-linear finite elements.     

Three-dimensional micromechanical modeling of voided polymeric materials

A three-dimensional micromechanical unit cell model for particle-filled materials is presented. The cell model is based on a Voronoi tessellation of particles arranged on a body-centered cubic (BCC) array. The three-dimensionality of the present cell model enables the study of several deformation modes, including uniaxial, plane strain and simple shear deformations, as well as arbitrary principal stress states.The unit cell model is applied to studies on the micromechanical and macromechanical behavior of rubber-toughened polycarbonate. Different load cases are examined, including plane strain deformation, simple shear deformation and principal stress states. For a constant macroscopic strain rate, the different load cases show that the macroscopic flow strength of the blend decreases with an increase in void volume fraction, as expected. The main mechanism for plastic deformation is broad shear banding across inter-particle ligaments. The distributed nature of plastic straining acts to reduce the amount of macroscopic strain softening in the blend as the initial void volume fraction is increased. In the case of plane strain deformation, the plastic flow is observed to initiate across inter-particle ligaments in the direction of constraint. This particular mode of deformation could not have been captured using a two-dimensional, plane strain idealization of cylindrical voids in a matrix.The potential for localized crazing and/or cavitation in the matrix is addressed. It is observed that the introduction of voids acts to relieve hydrostatic stress in the matrix material, compared to the homopolymer. It is also seen that the predicted peak hydrostatic stress in the matrix is higher under plane strain deformation than under triaxial tension (with equal lateral stresses), for the same macroscopic stress triaxiality.The effect of void volume fraction on the macroscopic uniaxial tension behavior of the different blends is examined using a Considère construction for dilatant materials. The natural draw ratio was predicted to decrease with an increase in void volume fraction.     

Hysteretic deteriorating model for quasi-brittle materials based on micromechanical damage approach

A damage model, which is based on the stochastic modeling of the microstructures, is developed for the quasi-brittle materials subjected to repeated loading. According to this model, the overall response of the material is represented with a series of micro-elements joined in parallel. A combined model is proposed for the micro-element considering the fracture as well as the hysteretic energy dissipation. To account for the progressive failure, the random fracture strains are assigned to the micro-elements. Therefore the overall parallel bundle is considered as a stationary random field. Then by averaging the microscopic random field, the overall loading, unloading and reloading curves are derived analytically. Two hysteretic rules are derived from the proposed model, and the overall hysteretic deteriorating behaviors could be well reproduced. To demonstrate the validity of the present model, the numerical results are shown against the stochastic simulated curves as well as the experimental data. The present model provides an alternative approach for the efficient modeling of the hysteretic deteriorating behaviors for the quasi-brittle materials.     

A linear dynamic model for a saturated porous medium

A linear isothermal dynamic model for a porous medium saturated by a Newtonian fluid is developed in the paper. In contrast to the mixture theory, the assumption of phase separation is avoided by introducing a single constitutive energy function for the porous medium. An important advantage of the proposed model is it can account for the couplings between the solid skeleton and the pore fluid. The mass and momentum balance equations are obtained according to the generalized mixture theory. Constitutive relations for the stress, the pore pressure are derived from the total free energy accounting for inter-phase interaction. In order to describe the momentum interaction between the fluid and the solid, a frequency independent Biot-type drag force model is introduced. A temporal variable porosity model with relaxation accounting for additional attenuation is introduced for the first time. The details of parameter estimation are discussed in the paper. It is demonstrated that all the material parameters in our model can be estimated from directly measurable phenomenological parameters. In terms of the equations of motion in the frequency domain, the wave velocities and the attenuations for the two P waves and one S wave are calculated. The influences of the porosity relaxation coefficient on the velocities and attenuation coefficients of the three waves of the porous medium are discussed in a numerical example.     

Numerical model for composite material with polymer matrix reinforced by carbon nanotubes

Due to the high stiffness and strength, as well as their ability to act as conductors, carbon nanotubes are under intense investigation as fillers in polymeric materials. The nature of the carbon nanotube/polymer bonding and the curvature of the carbon nanotubes within the polymer have arisen as particular factors in the efficacy of the carbon nanotubes to actually provide any enhanced stiffness or strength to the nanocomposite. Here the effects of carbon nanotube curvature and interface interaction with the matrix on the nanocomposite stiffness are investigated using nanomechanical analysis. In particular, the effects of poor bonding and thus poor shear lag load transfer to the carbon nanotubes are studied. In the case of poor bonding, carbon nanotubes waviness is shown to enhance the composite stiffness.     

Prediction of elastic properties of heterogeneous materials with complex microstructures

The phase-field microelasticity (PFM) is adapted into a homogenization process to predict all the effective elastic constants of three-dimensional heterogeneous materials with complex microstructures. Comparison between the PFM approach and the Hashin-Shtrikman variational approach is also given. Using 3D images of two-phase heterogeneous media with regular and irregular microstructures, results indicate that the PFM approach can accurately take into account the effects of both elastic anisotropy and inhomogeneity of materials with arbitrary microstructure geometry, such as complex porous media with suspended inclusions.     

A resistance model for flow through porous media

A new model for resistance of flow through granular porous media is developed based on the average hydraulic radius model and the contracting–expanding channel model. This model is expressed as a function of tortuosity, porosity, ratio of pore diameter to throat diameter, diameter of particles, and fluid properties. The two empirical constants, 150 and 1.75, in the Ergun equation are replaced by two expressions, which are explicitly related to the pore geometry. Every parameter in the proposed model has clear physical meaning. The proposed model is shown to be more fundamental and reasonable than the Ergum equation. The model predictions are in good agreement with the existing experimental data.     

A continuum model for fiber reinforced materials with debonding

A continuum theory for a fiber-reinforced material with debonding between the constituents is presented. The debonding phenomenon is simulated by imposing the continuity of the normal displacements at the fiber-matrix interfaces while allowing free tangential slip there. The derived theory is of the lowest order and is obtained by using a first order expansion in the displacements in the fiber and matrix phases. The theory is applied to investigate the effect of debonding on the propagation of waves in a boron/epoxy fiber reinforced material. It is shown that an additional mode of propagation is obtained as compared with the usual case of perfect bonding