Influence of fiber’s shape and size on overall elastoplastic property for micropolar composites

A general micromechanical method is developed for a micropolar composite with ellipsoidal fibers, where the matrix material is idealized as a micropolar material model. The method is based on a special micro–macro transition method, and the classical effective moduli for micropolar composites can be determined in an analytical way. The influence of both fiber’s shape and size can be analyzed by the proposed method. The effective moduli, initial yield surface and effective nonlinear stress and strain relation for a micropolar composite reinforced by ellipsoidal fibers are examined, it is found that the prediction on the effective moduli and effective nonlinear stress and strain curves are always higher than those based on classical Cauchy material model, especially for the case where the size of fiber approaches to the characteristic length of matrix material. As expected, when the size of fiber is sufficiently large, the classical results (size-independence) can be recovered.     

A continuum micromechanical theory of overall plasticity for particulate composites including particle size effect

Classical continuum micromechanics cannot predict the particle size dependence of the overall plasticity for composite materials, a simple analytical micromechanical method is proposed in this paper to investigate this size dependence. The matrix material is idealized as a micropolar continuum, an average equivalent inclusion method is advanced and the Mori–Tanaka's method is extended to a micropolar medium to evaluate the effective elastic modulus tensor. The overall plasticity of composites is predicted by a new secant moduli method based on the second order moment of strain and torsion of the matrix in a framework of micropolar theory. The computed results show that the size dependence is more pronounced when the particle's size approaches to the matrix characteristic length, and for large particle sizes, the prediction coincides with that predicted by classical micromechanical models. The method is analytical in nature, and it can capture the particle size dependence on the overall plastic behavior for particulate composites, and the prediction agrees well with the experimental results presented in literature. The proposed model can be considered as a natural extension of the widely used secant moduli method from a heterogeneous Cauchy medium to a micropolar composite.     

Interface effect on the effective bulk modulus of a particle-reinforced composite

Classical micromechanical methods for calculating the effective moduli of a heterogeneous material are generalized to include the interface (surface) effect. By using Hashin‘s Composite Sphere Assemblage (CSA) model, a new expression of the bulk modulus for a particle-reinforced composite is derived. It is emphasized that the present study is within the finite-deformation framework such that the effective properties are not influenced by the interface stress itself solely, but influenced by the change of the interface stress due to changes of the shape and size of the interface, itence some inadequacies in previous papers are pointed out.     

Non-linear micropolar and classical continua for anisotropic discontinuous materials

Non-linear Cosserat and Cauchy anisotropic continua equivalent to masonry-like materials, like brick/block masonry, jointed rocks, granular materials or matrix/particle composites, are presented.An integral procedure of equivalence in terms of mechanical power has been adopted to identify the effective elastic moduli of the two continuous models starting from a Lagrangian system of interacting rigid elements. Non-linear constitutive functions for the interactions in the Lagrangian system are defined in order to take into account both the low capability to carry tension and the friction at the interfaces between elements. The non-linear problem is solved through a finite element procedure based on the iterative adjustment of the continuum constitutive tensor due to the occurrence of some limit situation involving the contact actions of the discrete model.Differences between the classical and the micropolar model are investigated with the aid of numerical analyses carried out on masonry walls made of blocks of different size. The capability of the micropolar continuum to discern, unlike the classical continuum, the behaviour of systems made of elements of different size is pointed out. It is also shown that for anisotropic materials, even in the elastic case, the micropolar solution in general does not tend to the classical solution when the size of the elements vanishes.     

A new micromechanical approach of micropolar continuum modeling for 2-D periodic cellular material

In this paper, we present a new united approach to formulate the equivalent micropolar constitutive relation of two-dimensional (2-D) periodic cellular material to capture its non-local properties and to explain the size effects in its structural analysis. The new united approach takes both the displacement compatibility and the equilibrium of forces and moments into consideration, where Taylor series expansion of the displacement and rotation fields and the extended aver-aging procedure with an explicit enforcement of equilibrium are adopted in the micromechanical analysis of a unit cell. In numerical examples, the effective micropolar constants obtained in this paper and others derived in the literature are used for the equivalent micropolar continuum simulation of cellular solids. The solutions from the equivalent analysis are compared with the discrete simulation solutions of the cellu-lar solids. It is found that the micropolar constants developed in this paper give satisfying results of equivalent analysis for the periodic cellular material.     

Size-dependent effective elastic constants of solids containing nano-inhomogeneities with interface stress

The fundamental framework of micromechanical procedure is generalized to take into account the surface/interface stress effect at the nano-scale. This framework is applied to the derivation of the effective moduli of solids containing nano-inhomogeneities in conjunction with the composite spheres assemblage model, the Mori-Tanaka method and the generalized self-consistent method. Closed-form expressions are given for the bulk and shear moduli, which are shown to be functions of the interface properties and the size of the inhomogeneities. The dependence of the elastic moduli on the size of the inhomogeneities highlights the importance of the surface/interface in analysing the deformation of nano-scale structures. The present results are applicable to analysis of the properties of nano-composites and foam structures.     

Estimation of the effective thermoelastic moduli of fibrous nanocomposites with cylindrically anisotropic phases

Recent developments in nanotechnology make it possible to fabricate nanofibers and identify their mechanical fibers. In particular, nanofibers are used as reinforcement in composites. The present work concerns unidirectional nanofibrous composites with cylindrically anisotropic phases and aims to analytically estimate their effective thermoelastic moduli. This objective is achieved by extending the classical generalized self-consistent model to the setting of thermoelasticity, to the case of cylindrically anisotropic phases, and to the incorporation of interface stress effect. Analytical closed-form estimations are derived for all the effective thermoelastic moduli, showing that these moduli depend on the fiber cross-section size. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate this size-dependent effect.     

Micromechanical modeling of packing and size effects in particulate composites

This paper is devoted to the introduction of packing and size effects in micromechanical predictions of the overall elastic moduli of particulate composite materials. Whereas micromechanical models derived from the classical ‘point approach’ are known to be unable to model such effects, it is shown that the so-called ‘morphologically representative pattern-based approach’ (MRP-based approach) offers new means of taking some geometrical parameters into account such as the mean distance between nearest-neighbor particles or their size, so as to predict the dependence of the overall moduli on these parameters, at least in a relative way. Moreover, when internal lengths, such as the thickness of interphase shells of coated particles, are introduced, absolute size effects can be predicted as well. Illustrative applications are reported in view of comparisons between such new treatments and the predictions of some classical models which are shown to coincide with the ones derived from MRP-based models in definite limiting cases only.     

Effective property of piezoelectric composites containing coated nano-elliptical fibers with interfacial debonding

Based on both the spring layer interface model and the Gurtin-Murdoch surface/interface model, the anti-plane shear problem is studied for piezoelectric composites containing coated nano-elliptical fibers with imperfect interfaces. By using the complex function method and the technique of conformal mapping, the exact solutions of the electroelastic fields in fiber, coating, and matrix of piezoelectric nanocomposites are derived under far-field anti-plane mechanical and in-plane electrical loads. Furthermore, the generalized self-consistent method is used to accurately predict the effective electroelastic moduli of the piezoelectric nanocomposites containing coated nano-elliptical fibers with imperfect interfaces. Numerical examples are illustrated to show the effects of the material constants of the imperfect interface layers, the aspect ratio of the fiber section, and the fiber volume fraction on the effective electroelastic moduli of the piezoelectric nanocomposites. The results indicate that the effective electroelastic moduli of the piezoelectric nanocomposites can be significantly reduced by the interfacial debonding, but it can be improved by the surface/interface stresses at the small scale, which provides important theoretical reference for the design and optimization of piezoelectric nanodevices and nanostructures.     

ELASTIC BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS OF 3D ANGLE-INTERLOCK WOVEN CERAMIC COMPOSITES

A micromechanical model for elastic behavior analysis of angle-interlock woven ceramic composites is proposed in this paper. This model takes into account the actual fabric structure by considering the fiber undulation and continuity in space, the cavities between adjacent yarns and the actual cross-section geometry of the yarn. Based on the laminate theory, the elastic properties of 3D angle-interlock woven ceramic composites are predicted. Different numbers of interlaced wefts have almost the same elastic moduli. The thickness of ceramic matrix has little effect on elastic moduli. When the undulation ratio increases longitudinal modulus decreases and the other Young's moduli increase. Good agreement between theoretical predictions and experimental results demonstrates the feasibility of the proposed model in analyzing the elastic properties of 3D angle-interlock woven ceramic composites. The results of this paper verify the fact that the method of analyzing polyester matrix composites is suitable for woven ceramic composites.     

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.     

Piezoeffect in polar materials using moment theory

A method for describing the piezoelectric effect in a polar material is proposed based on the use of a composite particle model with seven degrees of freedom and a nonzero dipole moment. Based on micropolar theory, a system of equations is obtained which differs from the classical theory of piezoelectricity in the presence of additional terms. It is shown that under certain assumptions, the proposed system of equations becomes the classical system but the piezoelectric moduli depend strongly on the spontaneous polarization vector. It is shown that for anisotropic media with different symmetries, the structure of the third-rank piezoelectric tensors obtained using the proposed micropolar theory coincides with the structure of the tensors obtained using classical theory. For the media considered, dispersion relations are given and it is shown that in the proposed theory, unlike classical theory, the piezoelectric moduli are proportional to the spontaneous polarization.     

Finite element study for conical indentation of elastoplastic micropolar material

Numerous experiments have repetitively shown that the material behavior presents effective size dependent mechanical properties at scales of microns or submicrons. In this paper, the size dependent behavior of micropolar theory under conical indentation is studied for different indentation depths and micropolar material parameters. To illustrate the effectiveness of the micropolar theory in predicting the indentation size effect (ISE), an axisymmetric finite element model has been developed for elastoplastic contact analysis of the micropolar materials based on the parametric virtual principle. It is shown that the micropolar parameters contribute to describe the characteristic of ISE at different scales, where the material length scale regulates the rate of hardness change at large indentation depth and the value of micropolar shear module restrains the upper limit of hardness at low indentation depth. The simulation results showed that the indentation loads increase as the result of increased material length scale at any indentation depth, however, the rate of increase is higher for lower indentation depth, relative to conventional continuum. The numerical results are presented for perfectly sharp and rounded tip conical indentations of magnesium oxide and compared with the experimental data for hardness coming from the open literature. It is shown that the satisfactory agreement between the experimental data and the numerical results is obtained, and the better correlation is achieved for the rounded tip indentation compared to the sharp indentation.     

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.     

Thermo-elastic properties of heterogeneous materials with imperfect interfaces: Generalized Levin's formula and Hill's connections

We study the thermo-elastic properties of heterogeneous materials containing spherical particles or cylindrical fibres. The interface between the matrix and second-phase inhomogeneity is imperfect with either the displacement or the stress experiencing a jump across it. We relate the effective coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) to the effective elastic moduli and thereby generalize Levin's formula, and reveal two connections among the effective elastic moduli, thereby generalizing Hill's connections. In contrast to the classical results, the effective CTE in the presence of an imperfect interface is strongly dependent on the size of the inhomogeneity, besides the interface elastic and thermo-elastic properties. This size dependence has been accurately captured by simple scaling laws.     

Thin interphase/imperfect interface in elasticity with application to coated fiber composites

The imperfect interface conditions which are equivalent to the effect of a thin elastic interphase are derived by a Taylor expansion method in terms of interface displacement and traction jumps. Plane and cylindrical interfaces are analyzed as special cases. The effective elastic moduli of a unidirectional coated fiber composite are obtained on the basis of the derived imperfect interface conditions. High accuracy of the method is demonstrated by comparison of solutions of several problems in terms of the imperfect interface conditions or explicit presence of interphase as a third phase. The problems considered are transverse shear of a coated infinite fiber in infinite matrix and effective transverse bulk and shear moduli and effective axial shear modulus of a coated fiber composite. Unlike previous elastic imperfect interface conditions in the literature, the present ones are valid for the entire range of interphase stiffness, from very small to very large.     

Shear-horizontal waves in periodic layered nanostructure with both nonlocal and interface effects

The propagation of shear-horizontal(SH) waves in the periodic layered nanocomposite is investigated by using both the nonlocal integral model and the nonlocal differential model with the interface effect. Based on the transfer matrix method and the Bloch theory, the band structures for SH waves with both vertical and oblique incidences to the structure are obtained. It is found that by choosing appropriate interface parameters, the dispersion curves predicted by the nonlocal differential model w...     

A higher-order nonlocal elasticity and strain gradient theory and its applications in wave propagation

In recent years there have been many papers that considered the effects of material length scales in the study of mechanics of solids at micro- and/or nano-scales. There are a number of approaches and, among them, one set of papers deals with Eringen's differential nonlocal model and another deals with the strain gradient theories. The modified couple stress theory, which also accounts for a material length scale, is a form of a strain gradient theory. The large body of literature that has come into existence in the last several years has created significant confusion among researchers about the length scales that these various theories contain. The present paper has the objective of establishing the fact that the length scales present in nonlocal elasticity and strain gradient theory describe two entirely different physical characteristics of materials and structures at nanoscale. By using two principle kernel functions, the paper further presents a theory with application examples which relates the classical nonlocal elasticity and strain gradient theory and it results in a higher-order nonlocal strain gradient theory. In this theory, a higher-order nonlocal strain gradient elasticity system which considers higher-order stress gradients and strain gradient nonlocality is proposed. It is based on the nonlocal effects of the strain field and first gradient strain field. This theory intends to generalize the classical nonlocal elasticity theory by introducing a higher-order strain tensor with nonlocality into the stored energy function. The theory is distinctive because the classical nonlocal stress theory does not include nonlocality of higher-order stresses while the common strain gradient theory only considers local higher-order strain gradients without nonlocal effects in a global sense. By establishing the constitutive relation within the thermodynamic framework, the governing equations of equilibrium and all boundary conditions are derived via the variational approach. Two additional kinds of parameters, the higher-order nonlocal parameters and the nonlocal gradient length coefficients are introduced to account for the size-dependent characteristics of nonlocal gradient materials at nanoscale. To illustrate its application values, the theory is applied for wave propagation in a nonlocal strain gradient system and the new dispersion relations derived are presented through examples for wave propagating in Euler–Bernoulli and Timoshenko nanobeams. The numerical results based on the new nonlocal strain gradient theory reveal some new findings with respect to lattice dynamics and wave propagation experiment that could not be matched by both the classical nonlocal stress model and the contemporary strain gradient theory. Thus, this higher-order nonlocal strain gradient model provides an explanation to some observations in the classical and nonlocal stress theories as well as the strain gradient theory in these aspects.     

A semi-analytical model for the behavior of saturated viscoplastic materials containing two populations of voids of different sizes

This paper presents a micromechanical model for a porous viscoplastic material containing two populations of pressurized voids of different sizes. Three scales are distinguished: the microscopic scale (corresponding to the size of the small voids), the mesoscopic scale (corresponding to the size of the large voids) and the macroscopic scale. It is assumed that the first homogenization step is performed at the microscopic scale, and, at the mesoscopic scale, the matrix is taken to be homogeneous and compressible. At the mesoscopic scale, the second homogenization step, on which the present study focuses, is based on a simplified representative volume element: a hollow sphere containing a pressurized void surrounded by a nonlinear viscoplastic compressible matrix. The nonlinear behavior of the matrix, which is expressed using the results obtained in the first homogenization step, is approached using a modified secant linearization procedure involving the discretization of the hollow sphere into concentric layers. Each layer has uniform secant moduli. The predictions of the model are compared with the more accurate numerical results obtained using the finite element method. Good agreement is found to exist with all the macroscopic stress triaxialities and all the porosity and nonlinearity values studied.     

3D multiscale micromechanical model of wood: From annual rings to microfibrils

A 3D micromechanical analytical-computational model of softwood, which takes into account the wood microstructures at four scale levels, from microfibrils to annual rings, is developed. For the analysis of the effect of the annual rings structure on the properties of softwood, an improved rule-of-mixture model, based on 3D orthotropic stress–strain relations and taking into account the compatibility of deformations at the interface of two phases and equilibrium of tractions at phase boundaries, is proposed. The improved rule of mixture model (IRoM) was compared with the classical rule-of-mixture (RoM) and finite element method (FEM) simulations. It was shown that IRoM gives almost as good results as FEM. The analytical model of annual rings is combined with the 3D finite element model of softwood as cellular material with multilayered, microfibril reinforced cell walls, developed by Qing and Mishnaevsky, 2009a, Qing and Mishnaevsky, 2009b. Using the combined four-level model, the effect of wood density, microfibril angle (MFA) and cell shape angle (CSA) on the Young’s moduli, Poisson’s ratios and shrinkage properties of softwood has been investigated in numerical experiments. The simulations were verified by comparison with experimental data.