Mechanical response of a short fiber-reinforced thermoplastic: Experimental investigation and continuum mechanical modeling

The present work can be regarded as a first step toward an integrated modeling of mold filling during injection molding process of polymer composites and the resulting material behavior under service loading conditions. More precisely, the emphasis of the present paper is laid on how to account for local fiber orientation in the ground matrix on the prediction of the mechanical response of the composite at its final solid state. To this end, a set of experiments which captures the mechanical behavior of an injection molded short fiber-reinforced thermoplastic under different strain histories is described. It is shown that the material exhibits complex response mainly due to non-linearity, anisotropy, time/rate-dependence, hysteresis and permanent strain. Furthermore, the relaxed state of the material is characterized by the existence of an equilibrium hysteresis independently of the applied strain rate. A three-dimensional phenomenological model to represent experimentally observed response is developed. The microstructure configuration of the material is simplified and assumed to be entirely represented by a distributed fiber orientation in the ground matrix. In order to account for distributed short fiber orientations in a continuum sense, a concept of (symmetric) generalized structural tensor (tensor of orientation) of second order is adopted. The proposed model is based on assumption that the strain energy function of the composite is given by a linear mixture of the strain energy of each constituent: an isotropic part representing Phase 1 which is essentially related to the ground matrix and an anisotropic part describing Phase 2 which is mainly related to the fibers and the interphase as a whole. Hence, taking into account the fiber content and orientation, the efficiency of the model is assessed and perspectives are drawn.     

Design sensitivity analysis for the homogenized elasticity tensor of a polymer filled with rubber particles

The main purpose of this work is the computational simulation of the sensitivity coefficients of the homogenized tensor for a polymer filled with rubber particles with respect to the material parameters of the constituents. The Representative Volume Element (RVE) of this composite contains a single spherical particle, and the composite components are treated as homogeneous isotropic media, resulting in an isotropic effective homogenized material. The sensitivity analysis presented in this paper is performed via the provided semi-analytical technique using the commercial FEM code ABAQUS and the symbolic computation package MAPLE. The analytical method applied for comparison uses the additional algebraic formulas derived for the homogenized tensor for a medium filled with spherical inclusions, while the FEM-based technique employs the polynomial response functions recovered from the Weighted Least-Squares Method. The homogenization technique consists of equating the strain energies for the real composite and the artificial isotropic material characterized by the effective elasticity tensor. The homogenization problem is solved using ABAQUS by the application of uniform deformations on specific outer surfaces of the composite RVE and the use of tetrahedral finite elements C3D4. The energy approach will allow for the future application of more realistic constitutive models of rubber-filled polymers such as that of Mullins and for RVEs of larger size that contain an agglomeration of rubber particles.     

Mindlin second-gradient elastic properties from dilute two-phase Cauchy-elastic composites Part II: Higher-order constitutive properties and application cases

Starting from a Cauchy elastic composite with a dilute suspension of randomly distributed inclusions and characterized at first-order by a certain discrepancy tensor (see part I of the present article), it is shown that the equivalent second-gradient Mindlin elastic solid: (i) is positive definite only when the discrepancy tensor is negative defined; (ii) the non-local material symmetries are the same of the discrepancy tensor, and (iii) the non-local effective behaviour is affected by the shape of the RVE, which does not influence the first-order homogenized response. Furthermore, explicit derivations of non-local parameters from heterogeneous Cauchy elastic composites are obtained in the particular cases of: (a) circular cylindrical and spherical isotropic inclusions embedded in an isotropic matrix, (b) n-polygonal cylindrical voids in an isotropic matrix, and (c) circular cylindrical voids in an orthotropic matrix.     

Surface Impedance Tensor and Green’s Function for Weakly Anisotropic Elastic Materials

Recently Fu and Mielke uncovered a new identity that the surface impedance tensor of any anisotropic elastic material has to satisfy. By solving algebraically a matrix equation that follows from the new identity, we derive an explicit expression for the surface impedance tensor, which is correct up to terms linear in the components of the anisotropic part of the elasticity tensor of the material in question. From the well-known relationship between the surface impedance tensor and the Green’s function for infinite space, we obtain an explicit expression for the Green’s function, which is correct up to terms linear in the components of the anisotropic part of the elasticity tensor.      

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．     

新修正偶应力理论Reddy型层合板稳定分析

基于新修正偶应力理论建立了一个Reddy型复合材料层合板稳定性模型。该理论中曲率张量不对称,而偶应力矩张量对称。Reddy型层合板模型能够满足横向剪切应力为0的自由表面条件,而且横向剪切为二次函数,避免了常剪力一阶理论需要引入的剪力修正系数。为了便于工程应用,通过虚功原理推导了只含纤维材料尺度参数正交铺设的Reddy型层合板偶应力模型的稳定性方程,并以微尺度正交铺设四边简支层合方板为例,分析了不同铺设角和轴向载荷作用时临界载荷的细观尺度效应,并且与一阶剪切变形和Kirchhoff板理论结果对比。结果表明,本文建立的新修正偶应力Reddy型层合板模型更适合分析较厚的复合材料层合板稳定性的尺度效应。     

Strain gradient solution for the Eshelby-type polyhedral inclusion problem

The Eshelby-type problem of an arbitrary-shape polyhedral inclusion embedded in an infinite homogeneous isotropic elastic material is analytically solved using a simplified strain gradient elasticity theory (SSGET) that contains a material length scale parameter. The Eshelby tensor for a polyhedral inclusion of arbitrary shape is obtained in a general analytical form in terms of three potential functions, two of which are the same as the ones involved in the counterpart Eshelby tensor based on classical elasticity. These potential functions, as volume integrals over the polyhedral inclusion, are evaluated by dividing the polyhedral inclusion domain into tetrahedral duplexes, with each duplex and the associated local coordinate system constructed using a procedure similar to that employed by Rodin (1996. J. Mech. Phys. Solids 44, 1977–1995). Each of the three volume integrals is first transformed to a surface integral by applying the divergence theorem, which is then transformed to a contour (line) integral based on Stokes' theorem and using an inverse approach different from those adopted in the existing studies based on classical elasticity. The newly derived SSGET-based Eshelby tensor is separated into a classical part and a gradient part. The former contains Poisson's ratio only, while the latter includes the material length scale parameter additionally, thereby enabling the interpretation of the inclusion size effect. This SSGET-based Eshelby tensor reduces to that based on classical elasticity when the strain gradient effect is not considered. For homogenization applications, the volume average of the new Eshelby tensor over the polyhedral inclusion is also provided in a general form. To illustrate the newly obtained Eshelby tensor and its volume average, three types of polyhedral inclusions – cubic, octahedral and tetrakaidecahedral – are quantitatively studied by directly using the general formulas derived. The numerical results show that the components of the SSGET-based Eshelby tensor for each of the three inclusion shapes vary with both the position and the inclusion size, while their counterparts based on classical elasticity only change with the position. It is found that when the inclusion is small, the contribution of the gradient part is significantly large and should not be neglected. It is also observed that the components of the averaged Eshelby tensor based on the SSGET change with the inclusion size: the smaller the inclusion, the smaller the components. When the inclusion size becomes sufficiently large, these components are seen to approach (from below) the values of their classical elasticity-based counterparts, which are constants independent of the inclusion size.     

多相材料有效性能预测的高精度方法

有效介质方法是常用的细观力学方法之一.其可用于计算多相材料的有效性能,并建立材料微细观结构和宏观性能的定量关系;有助于指导新材料设计,减少试验工作量等.然而,当夹杂含量升高时,传统有效介质方法的计算精度下降.本文以两相材料为研究对象,提出一种新的参考介质,即:为更合理考虑不同夹杂颗粒间的相互作用,假定参考介质的应变是基体相平均应变和某一修正张量的双点积.在此基础上,推导了新参考介质下两相材料的有效模量表达式,并给出该修正张量的近似计算方法;通过反复更新参考介质,采用多层次均匀化思路,将本文方法进一步用于多相材料性能的预测.为验证方法的有效性,将预测结果与已有模型结果和试验数据进行对比.结果表明本文方法较已有方法更为合理、有效.当夹杂含量升高时,本文方法较传统有效介质方法的计算精度有所提升.     

On the Nonlinear Continuum Theory of Dislocations: A Gauge Field Theoretical Approach

A nonlinear continuum theory of material bodies with continuously distributed dislocations is presented, based on a gauge theoretical approach. Firstly, we derive the canonical conservation laws that correspond to the group of translations and rotations in the material space using Noether’s theorem. These equations give us the canonical Eshelby stress tensor as well as the total canonical angular momentum tensor. The canonical Eshelby stress tensor is neither symmetric nor gauge-invariant. Based on the Belinfante-Rosenfeld procedure, we obtain the gauge-invariant Eshelby stress tensor which can be symmetric relative to the reference configuration only for isotropic materials. The gauge-invariant angular momentum tensor is obtained as well. The decomposition of the gauge-invariant Eshelby stress tensor in an elastic and in a dislocation part gives rise to the derivation of the famous Peach-Koehler force.     

A NOTE ON MORI-TANAKA＇S METHOD

Explicit expressions of Mori-Tanaka＇s tensor for a transversely isotropic fiber rein- forced UD composite are presented. Closed-form formulae for the effective elastic properties of the composite are obtained. In a 3D sense, the resulting compliance tensor of the composite is symmetric. Nevertheless, the 2D compliance tensor based on a deteriorated Mori-Tanaka＇s tensor is not symmetric. Nor is the compliance tensor defined upon a deteriorated 2D Eshelby＇s tensor. The in-plane effective elastic properties given by those three approaches are different. A detailed comparison between the predicted results obtained from those approaches with experimental data available for a number of UD composites is made.     

Some general properties of Eshelby’s tensor fields in transport phenomena and anti-plane elasticity

Consider an infinite thermally conductive medium characterized by Fourier’s law, in which a subdomain, called an inclusion, is subjected to a prescribed uniform heat flux-free temperature gradient. The second-order tensor field relating the gradient of the resulting temperature field over the medium to the uniform heat flux-free temperature gradient is referred to as Eshelby’s tensor field for conduction. The present work aims at deriving the general properties of Eshelby’s tensor field for conduction. It is found that: (i) the trace of Eshelby’s tensor field is equal to the characteristic function of the inclusion, independently of the latter’s shape; (ii) the isotropic part of Eshelby’s tensor field over the inclusion of arbitrary shape is identical to Eshelby’s tensor field over a 2D circular or 3D spherical inclusion; (iii) when the medium is made of an isotropic material and when the inclusion has some specific rotational symmetries, the value of the Eshelby’s tensor field evaluated at the inclusion gravity center and the symmetric average of Eshelby’s tensor fields are both equal to Eshelby’s tensor field for a 2D circular or 3D spherical inclusion. These results are then extended, with the help of a linear transformation, to the general case where the medium consists of an anisotropic conductive material. The method elaborated and results obtained by the present work are directly transposable to the physically analogous transport phenomena of electric conduction, dielectrics, magnetism, diffusion and flow in porous media and to the mathematically identical phenomenon of anti-plane elasticity.     

Modeling of deformation induced anisotropy in free-end torsion

The main purpose of this work is to develop a phenomenological model, which accounts for the evolution of the elastic and plastic properties of fcc polycrystals due to a crystallographic texture development and predicts the axial effects in torsion experiments. The anisotropic portion of the effective elasticity tensor is modeled by a growth law. The flow rule depends on the anisotropic part of the elasticity tensor. The normalized anisotropic part of the effective elasticity tensor is equal to the 4th-order coefficient of a tensorial Fourier expansion of the crystal orientation distribution function. Hence, the evolution of elastic and viscoplastic properties is modeled by an evolution equation for the 4th-order moment tensor of the orientation distribution function of an aggregate of cubic crystals. It is shown that the model is able to predict the plastic anisotropy that leads to the monotonic and cyclic Swift effect. The predictions are compared to those of the Taylor–Lin polycrystal model and to experimental data. In contrast to other phenomenological models proposed in the literature, the present model predicts the axial effects even if the initial state of the material is isotropic.     

Asymptotic solutions by the successive disordering method

We develop the periodic componentmethod [1] and represent the solution of a stochastic boundary value elasticity problem for a random quasiperiodic structure with a given disordering degree of inclusions in the matrix via the deviations from the corresponding solution for a random structure with a smaller disordering degree. An example in which the tensor of elastic properties of a composite is calculated is used to illustrate the asymptotic and differential approaches of the successive disordering method. The asymptotic approach permits representing the quasiperiodic structure with a given chaos coefficient and the desired tensor of effective elastic properties as a result of small successive disordering of an originally ideally periodic structure of a composite with known tensor of elastic properties. In the differential approach, a differential equation is obtained for the tensor of effective elastic properties as a function of the chaos coefficient. Its solution coincides with the solution provided by the asymptotic approach. The solution is generalized to the case of piezoactive composites, and a numerical analysis of the effective properties is performed for a PVF (polyvinylidene fluoride) piezoelectric with various quasiperiodic structures on the basis of the cubic structure with spherical inclusions of a high-module elastic material.     

Three-dimensional stochastic analysis using a perturbation-based homogenization method for elastic properties of composite material considering microscopic uncertainty

This paper discusses evaluation of influence of microscopic uncertainty on a homogenized macroscopic elastic property of an inhomogeneous material. In order to analyze the influence, the perturbation-based homogenization method is used. A higher order perturbation-based analysis method for investigating stochastic characteristics of a homogenized elastic tensor and an equivalent elastic property of a composite material is formulated.As a numerical example, macroscopic stochastic characteristics such as an expected value or variance, which is caused by microscopic uncertainty in material properties, of a homogenized elastic tensor and homogenized equivalent elastic property of unidirectional fiber reinforced plastic are investigated. The macroscopic stochastic variation caused by microscopic uncertainty in component materials such as Young’s modulus or Poisson’s ratio variation is evaluated using the perturbation-based homogenization method. The numerical results are compared with the results of the Monte-Carlo simulation, validity, effectiveness and a limitation of the perturbation-based homogenization method is investigated. With comparing the results using the first-order perturbation-based method, effectiveness of a higher order perturbation is also investigated.     

2-D hydro-viscoelastic model for convective drying of deformable and unsaturated porous material

The aim of this work was to simulate in two dimensions the spatio-temporal evolution of the moisture content, the temperature, the solid (dry matter) concentration, the dry product total porosity, the gas porosity, and the mechanical stress within a deformable and unsaturated product during convective drying. The material under study was an elongated cellulose–clay composite sample with a square section placed in hot air flow. Currently, this innovative composite is used in the processing of boxes devoted to the preservation of heritage and precious objects against fire damage and other degradation (moisture, insects, etc.). A comprehensive and rigorous hydrothermal model had been merged with a dynamic linear viscoelasticity model based on Bishop's effective stress theory, assuming that the stress tensor is the sum of solid, liquid, and gas stresses. The material viscoelastic properties were measured by means of stress relaxation tests for different water contents. The viscoelastic behaviour was described by a generalized Maxwell model whose parameters were correlated to the water content. The equations of our model were solved by means of the ‘COMSOL Multiphysics’ software. The hydrothermal part of the model was validated by comparison with experimental drying curves obtained in a laboratory hot-air dryer. The simulations of the spatio-temporal distributions of mechanical stress were performed and interpreted in terms of material potential damage. The sample shape was also predicted all over the drying process.     

Eshelby tensors for an ellipsoidal inclusion in a microstretch material

Eshelby tensors for an ellipsoidal inclusion in a microstretch material are derived in analytical form, involving only one-dimensional integral. As micropolar Eshelby tensor, the microstretch Eshelby tensors are not uniform inside of the ellipsoidal inclusion. However, different from micropolar Eshelby tensor, it is found that when the size of inclusion is large compared to the characteristic length of microstretch material, the microstretch Eshelby tensor cannot be reduced to the corresponding classical one. The reason for this is analyzed in details. It is found that under a pure hydrostatic loading, the bulk modulus of a microstretch material is not the same as the one in the corresponding classical material. A modified bulk modulus for the microstretch material is proposed, the microstretch Eshelby tensor is shown to be reduced to the modified classical Eshelby tensor at large size limit of inclusion. The fully analytical expressions of microstretch Eshelby tensors for a cylindrical inclusion are also derived.     

Anisotropic damage law of evolution

A formulation for anisotropic damage is established in the framework of the principle of strain equivalence. The damage variable is still related to the surface density of microcracks and microvoids and, as its evolution is governed by the plastic strain, it is represented by a second order tensor and is orthotropic. The coupling of damage with elasticity is written through a tensor on the deviatoric part of the energy and through a scalar taken as its trace on the hydrostatic part. The kinetic law of damage evolution is an extension of the isotropic case. Here, the principal components of the damage rate tensor are proportional to the absolute value of principal components of the plastic strain rate tensor and are a nonlinear function of the effective elastic strain energy. The proposed damage evolution law does not introduce any other material parameter. Several series of experiments on metals give a good validation of this theory. The coupling of damage with plasticity and the quasi-unilateral conditions of partial closure of microcracks naturally derive from the concept of effective stress. Finally, a study of strain localization makes it possible to determine the critical value of the damage at mesocrack initiation.     

Nonlinear free vibrations of porous composite microplates incorporating various microstructural-dependent strain gradient tensors

The main objective of the present numerical analysis is to predict the nonlinear frequency ratios associated with the nonlinear free vibration response of porous composite plates at microscale in the presence of different microstructural gradient tensors. To achieve this end, by taking cubic-type elements into account, isogeometric models of porous composite microplates are obtained with and without a central cutout and relevant to various porosity patterns of distribution along the plate thickness. The established unconventional models have the capability to capture the effects of various unconventional gradient tensors continuity on the basis of a refined shear deformable plate formulation. For the simply supported microsized uniform porous functionally graded material (U-PFGM) plate having the oscillation amplitude equal to the plate thickness, it is revealed that the rotation gradient tensor causes to reduce the frequency ratio about 0.73%, the dilatation gradient tensor causes to reduce it about 1.93%, and the deviatoric stretch gradient tensor leads to a decrease of it about 5.19%. On the other hand, for the clamped microsized U-PFGM plate having the oscillation amplitude equal to the plate thickness, these percentages are equal to 0.62%, 1.64%, and 4.40%, respectively. Accordingly, it is found that by changing the boundary conditions from clamped to simply supported, the effect of microsize on the reduction of frequency ratio decreases a bit.

     

A new modified couple stress theory for anisotropic elasticity and microscale laminated Kirchhoff plate model

A new modified couple stress theory for anisotropic elasticity is proposed. This theory contains three material length scale parameters. Differing from the modified couple stress theory, the couple stress constitutive relationships are introduced for anisotropic elasticity, in which the curvature (rotation gradient) tensor is asymmetric and the couple stress moment tensor is symmetric. However, under isotropic case, this theory can be identical to modified couple stress theory proposed by Yang et al. (Int J Solids Struct 39:2731–2743, 2002). The differences and relations of standard, modified and new modified couple stress theories are given herein. A detailed variational formulation is provided for this theory by using the principle of minimum total potential energy. Based on the new modified couple stress theory, composite laminated Kirchhoff plate models are developed in which new anisotropic constitutive relationships are defined. The First model contains two material length scale parameters, one related to fiber and the other related to matrix. The curvature tensor in this model is asymmetric; however, the couple stress moment tensor is symmetric. Under isotropic case, this theory can be identical to the modified couple stress theory proposed by Yang et al. (Int J Solids Struct 39:2731–2743, 2002). The present model can be viewed as a simplified couple stress theory in engineering mechanics. Moreover, a more simplified model of couple stress theory including only one material length scale parameter for modeling the cross-ply laminated Kirchhoff plate is suggested. Numerical results show that the proposed laminated Kirchhoff plate model can capture the scale effects of microstructures.