A micromechanical continuum model for the tensile behavior of shape memory metal nanowires

We have previously discovered a novel shape memory effect and pseudoelastic behavior in single-crystalline face-centered-cubic metal (Cu, Ni, and Au) nanowires. Under tensile loading and unloading, these wires can undergo recoverable elongations of up to 50%, well beyond the recoverable strains of 5-8% typical for most bulk shape memory alloys. This phenomenon only exists at the nanoscale and is associated with a reversible lattice reorientation driven by the high surface-stress-induced internal stresses. We present here a micromechanical continuum model for the unique tensile behavior of these nanowires. Based on the first law of thermodynamics, this model decomposes the lattice reorientation process into two parts: a reversible, smooth transition between a series of phase-equilibrium states and a superimposed irreversible, dissipative twin boundary propagation process. The reversible part is modeled within the framework of strain energy functions with multiple local minima. The irreversible, dissipative nature of the twin boundary propagation is due to the ruggedness of strain energy curves associated with dislocation nucleation, glide, and annihilation. The model captures the major characteristics of the unique behavior due to lattice reorientation and accounts for the size and temperature effects, yielding results that are in excellent agreement with the results of molecular dynamics simulations.     

A continuum constitutive model for the mechanical behavior of woven fabrics

We propose a new approach for developing continuum models for the mechanical behavior of woven fabrics in planar deformation. We generate a physically motivated continuum model that can both simulate existing fabrics and predict the behavior of novel fabrics based on the properties of the yarns and the weave. The approach relies on the selection of a geometric model for the fabric weave, coupled with constitutive models for the yarn behaviors. The fabric structural configuration is related to the macroscopic deformation through an energy minimization method, and is used to calculate the internal forces carried by the yarn families. The macroscopic stresses are determined from the internal forces using equilibrium arguments. Using this approach, we develop a model for plain weave ballistic fabrics, such as Kevlar®, based on a pin-joined beam geometry. We implement this model into the finite element code ABAQUS and simulate fabrics under different modes of deformation. We present comparisons between model predictions and experimental findings for quasi-static modes of in-plane loading.     

Effect of surface stress and surface-induced stress on behavior of piezoelectric nanobeam

A new continuum model is developed to study the influence of surface stress on the behaviors of piezoelectric nanobeams. Different from existing piezoelectric surface models which only consider the surface properties, the proposed model takes surfaceinduced initial fields into consideration. Due to the fact that the surface-induced initial fields are totally different under various boundary conditions, two kinds of beams, the doubly-clamped beam and the cantilever beam, are analyzed. Furthermore, boundary conditions can affect not only the initial state of the piezoelectric nanobeam but also the forms of the governing equations. Based on the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory, the nonlinear Green-Lagrangian strain-displacement relationship is applied. In addition, the surface area change is also considered in the proposed model. The governing equations of the doubly-clamped and cantilever beams are derived by the energy variation principle. Compared with existing Young-Laplace models, the proposed model for the doubly-clamped beam is similar to the Young-Laplace models. However, the governing equation of the cantilever beam derived by the proposed model is very different from that derived by the Young-Laplace models. The behaviors of piezoelectric nanobeams predicted by these two models also have significant discrepancies, which is owing to the surface-induced initial fields in the bulk beam.     

From coherent to incoherent mismatched interfaces: A generalized continuum formulation of surface stresses

The equilibrium of coherent and incoherent mismatched interfaces is reformulated in the context of continuum mechanics based on the Gibbs dividing surface concept. Two surface stresses are introduced: a coherent surface stress and an incoherent surface stress, as well as a transverse excess strain. The coherent surface stress and the transverse excess strain represent the thermodynamic driving forces of stretching the interface while the incoherent surface stress represents the driving force of stretching one crystal while holding the other fixed and thereby altering the structure of the interface. These three quantities fully characterize the elastic behavior of coherent and incoherent interfaces as a function of the in-plane strain, the transverse stress and the mismatch strain. The isotropic case is developed in detail and particular attention is paid to the case of interfacial thermo-elasticity. This exercise provides an insight on the physical significance of the interfacial elastic constants introduced in the formulation and illustrates the obvious coupling between the interface structure and its associated thermodynamics quantities. Finally, an example based on atomistic simulations of Cu/Cu₂O interfaces is given to demonstrate the relevance of the generalized interfacial formulation and to emphasize the dependence of the interfacial thermodynamic quantities on the incoherency strain with an actual material system.     

A constitutive model for the in-plane mechanical behavior of nonwoven fabrics

A constitutive model is presented for the in-plane mechanical behavior of nonwoven fabrics. The model is developed within the context of the finite element method and provides the constitutive response for a mesodomain of the fabric corresponding to the area associated to a finite element. The model is built upon the ensemble of three blocks, namely fabric, fibers and damage. The continuum tensorial formulation of the fabric response rigorously takes into account the effect of fiber rotation for large strains and includes the nonlinear fiber behavior. In addition, the various damage mechanisms experimentally observed (bond and fiber fracture, interfiber friction and fiber pull-out) are included in a phenomenological way and the random nature of these materials is also taken into account by means of a Monte Carlo lottery to determine the damage thresholds. The model results are validated with recent experimental results on the tensile response of smooth and notched specimens of a polypropylene nonwoven fabric.     

A nonlinear generalized continuum approach for electro-elasticity including scale effects

Materials characterized by an electro-mechanically coupled behaviour fall into the category of so-called smart materials. In particular, electro-active polymers (EAP) recently attracted much interest, because, upon electrical loading, EAP exhibit a large amount of deformation while sustaining large forces. This property can be utilized for actuators in electro-mechanical systems, artificial muscles and so forth. When it comes to smaller structures, it is a well-known fact that the mechanical response deviates from the prediction of classical mechanics theory. These scale effects are due to the fact that the size of the microscopic material constituents of such structures cannot be considered to be negligible small anymore compared to the structure's overall dimensions. In this context so-called generalized continuum formulations have been proven to account for the micro-structural influence to the macroscopic material response. Here, we want to adopt a strain gradient approach based on a generalized continuum framework [Sansour, C., 1998. A unified concept of elastic-viscoplastic Cosserat and micromorphic continua. J. Phys. IV Proc. 8, 341-348; Sansour, C., Skatulla, S., 2007. A higher gradient formulation and meshfree-based computation for elastic rock. Geomech. Geoeng. 2, 3-15] and extend it to also encompass the electro-mechanically coupled behaviour of EAP. The approach introduces new strain and stress measures which lead to the formulation of a corresponding generalized variational principle. The theory is completed by Dirichlet boundary conditions for the displacement field and its derivatives normal to the boundary as well as the electric potential. The basic idea behind this generalized continuum theory is the consideration of a micro- and a macro-space which together span the generalized space. As all quantities are defined in this generalized space, also the constitutive law, which is in this work conventional electro-mechanically coupled nonlinear hyperelasticity, is embedded in the generalized continuum. In this way material information of the micro-space, which are here only the geometrical specifications of the micro-continuum, can naturally enter the constitutive law. Several applications with moving least square-based approximations (MLS) demonstrate the potential of the proposed method. This particular meshfree method is chosen, as it has been proven to be highly flexible with regard to continuity and consistency required by this generalized approach.     

A simple model of the mechanical behavior of ceramic-like materials

This paper presents a macroscopic mechanical theory for ceramic-like materials undergoing isothermal deformations. The proposed model describes an elastic brittle material which is damageable only under tensile loading. The damage lowers the elastic stiffness in traction simulating hence the softening and the fracture (zero stillness) of the material. The basic idea is to consider the continuum as a mixture of two phases—a linear elastic phase and a masonry phase (which shows a linear elastic behavior under compression but cannot hold tractive loads at all). The damage is then related to the volume fraction β of the clastic constituent. The constitutive relations are derived from macroscopic thermodynamics with the volume fraction β and its gradient β taken as state variables.     

A mechanical model for predicting the long term behavior of reinforced polymer concretes

Polymer concretes represent challenging materials in the Civil Engineering field, with them being characterized by a high value of the compressive strength and ultimate compressive strain, as well as by a good chemical resistance when compared to that of traditional concretes. These innovative materials exhibit a limited value of the strength in tension and therefore need to be reinforced with either steel or FRP pultruded internal bars. Moreover, their structural performance is strongly affected by the rheological behavior of the resin as well as the internal bars, if made of FRP. In this paper, a mechanical model capable of analytically evaluating the long term behavior of reinforced polymer concrete beams is presented, which accounts for the linear viscoelastic behavior of the constituent materials.     

Reflection of plane waves under initial stresses at a free surface

The paper deals with the phenomenon of reflection of plane elastic waves in a free surface when the medium is initially stressed. It has been shown analytically that the reflected P and SV waves depend on initial stresses present in the medium. The numerical values of reflection coefficients for different initial stresses and the angle of incidence have been calculated by the Computer I.C.L. 1901-A and the results are given in the form of graphs. Many interesting results are found in the paper which are not seen in an initially stress-free medium.     

Linear limit stresses of some photoelastic and mechanical model materials

Certain laws of similarity must be observed in structural-model analyses. In this paper, one aspect of model similarity—that of linearity—is examined quite extensively. Most model analyses assume that both prototype and model materials obey Hooke's law. But the plastics often used for structural or photoelastic models are viscoelastic or photoviscoelastic. The stress-strain and stress-birefringence relations are time dependent and may be nonlinear. Through careful calibration of model materials and proper design of model tests, potential errors due to the time dependence of material properties can usually be avoided. If the results of the test are to be interpreted conveniently and accurately, the stresses in the model material must be within the linear range. This range is limited and time dependent for most plastics. The linear range may extend only to stresses considerably below the ultimate or fracture strength of the material. Hence, analyses based don linearity may be in error if the initial stresses are too high and/or if given stresses are sustained too long before desired information is collected. The stresses which limit the linear range, called linear limit stresses, were determined for both stress-strain and stress-birefringence relations for four commonly used plastics: CR-39 (Cast Optics Co.), PS-1 and PS-2 (Photolastic, Inc.) and P6-K (B.A.S.F., Germany). A graphical presentation of the time-dependent photoelastic and mechanical properties is employed. It was concluded that linear limit stresses for birefringence are approximately equal to those based on strain and can therefore be used to establish, within reasonable bounds of accuracy, the linear range of behavior of the material.     

Disk-shaped normal-rupture crack near the surface of a semiinfinite body with initial stresses

Institute of Mechanics, Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, Kiev. Branch of New Physical Problems, Institute of Materials Science, Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, Kiev. Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika, Vol. 27, No. 7, pp. 18–25, July, 1991.     

A one-dimensional continuum model for ferroelectric ceramics

In this article, we introduce a one-dimensional continuum model for ferroelectric ceramics within a thermodynamical framework. The model consists of a free energy potential, a switching criterion, and a kinetic relation. The free energy potential is given as a function of polarization, strain, and two internal variables – remanent polarization and remanent strain. A polarization switching is described by evolutions of the two internal variables and evolution laws called kinetics are proposed based on the second law of thermodynamics. The predictions of the model are compared with experimental observations. It is suggested to model unpoled domains in the fully poled state for improved model responses.     

A continuum damage model for piezoelectric materials

In this paper, a constitutive model is proposed for piezoelectric material solids containing distributed cracks. The model is formulated in a framework of continuum damage mechanics using second rank tensors as internal variables. The Helrnhotlz free energy of piezoelectric mate- rials with damage is then expressed as a polynomial including the transformed strains, the electric field vector and the tensorial damage variables by using the integrity bases restricted by the initial orthotropic symmetry of the material. By using the Talreja＇s tensor valued internal state damage variables as well as the Helrnhotlz free energy of the piezoelectric material, the constitutive relations of piezoelectric materials with damage are derived. The model is applied to a special case of piezoelectric plate with transverse matrix cracks. With the Kirchhoff hypothesis of plate, the free vibration equations of the piezoelectric rectangular plate considering damage is established. By using Galerkin method, the equations are solved. Numerical results show the effect of the damage on the free vibration of the piezoelectric plate under the close-circuit condition, and the present results are compared with those of the three-dimensional theory.     

A consistent finite element model for the two-dimensional continuum

Summary The finite element approximation to the continuum problem is examined from the viewpoint of the principle of virtual work. It is shown that the usual nodal equilibrium equations for triangular elements are a consistent consequence of a piecewise constant strain field, thus guaranteeing that many results of general continuum theory can be directly applied to the finite element model, and also clarifying the relation between the two models.

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Übersicht Das Verfahren, ein Kontinuum durch finite Elemente anzunähern wird vom Standpunkt des Prinzips der virtuellen Arbeiten untersucht. Es wird gezeigt, daß die üblichen Knotenpunktsgleichungen für dreieckförmige Elemente eine Folge des stückweise konstanten Verformungsfeldes sind. Auf diese Weise wird sichergestellt, daß viele Ergebnisse der allgemeinen Kontinuumstheorie unmittelbar auf das aus endlichen Elementen aufgebaute Modell übertragen werden können. Gleichzeitig werden die Beziehungen zwischen beiden Modellen geklärt.

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Dedicated to Professor Dr. H. Ziegler on the occasion of his 60th birthday.

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This research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation, Grant GK 10549.     

A nonlocal continuum model for the buckling of carbon honeycombs

Using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and Eringen’s nonlocal elasticity theory, in this paper we comprehensively study the small-scale effects on the buckling behaviours of carbon honeycombs (CHCs). The MD simulation results show that the small-scale effects stemming from the long-range van der Waals interaction between carbon atoms can significantly affect the buckling behaviours of CHCs. To incorporate the small-scale effects into the theoretical analysis of the buckling of CHCs, we develop a nonlocal continuum mechanics (CM) model by employing Eringen’s nonlocal elasticity theory. Our nonlocal CM model is found to fit MD simulations well by setting the nonlocal parameter in the nonlocal CM model as 0.67. It is shown in our MD-based nonlocal CM model that when the cell length of CHCs is smaller than 7.93 Å the influence of small-scale effects on the bucking of CHCs becomes unnegligible and the small-scale effects can greatly reduce the critical buckling stress of CHCs. This reduction in critical buckling stress induced by the small-scale effects becomes more significant as the length of the cell wall decreases. Moreover, CHCs are found to display two different buckling modes when they are under different states of loading. The critical condition for the transition between these two buckling modes of CHCs can be greatly affected by the small-scale effects when the vertical cell wall and the inclined cell wall of CHCs have different lengths.     

A continuum model for initiation and evolution of deformation twinning

Within continuum dislocation theory the plastic deformation of a single crystal with one active slip system under plane-strain constrained shear is investigated. By introducing a twinning shear into the energy of the crystal, we show that in a certain range of straining the formation of deformation twins becomes energetically preferable. An energetic threshold for the onset of twinning is determined. A rough analysis qualitatively describes not only the evolving volume fractions of twins but also their number during straining. Finally, we analyze the evolution of deformation twins and of the dislocation network at non-zero dissipation. We present the corresponding stress-strain hysteresis, the evolution of the plastic distortion, the twin volume fractions and the dislocation densities.     

A continuum constitutive model for the active behaviour of skeletal muscle

In the present paper we propose a continuum constitutive model for the passive and active mechanical behaviour of skeletal muscle. Unlike most works in this field, the model is not based on an additive split between passive and active components but considers muscle tissue as one continuous biological material, which alters its properties when activated. This alteration also allows for a kinematic interpretation on the muscle fibre level and is described by a single activation-dependent model parameter. This as well as the other material parameters are obtained from standard experiments on resting and activated muscle or from microstructural information such as fibre type and twitch characteristics. In the passive state, the constitutive equations are governed by a transversely isotropic polyconvex and coercive strain-energy function. The model shows excellent agreement with experimental stress-stretch data of a passive and activated rat tibialis anterior muscle.     

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.     

A continuum damage model for delaminations in laminated composites

Delamination, a typical mode of interfacial damage in laminated composites, has been considered in the context of continuum damage mechanics in this paper. Interfaces where delaminations could occur are introduced between the constituent layers. A simple but appropriate continuum damage representation is proposed. A single scalar damage parameter is employed and the degradation of the interface stiffness is established. Use has been made of the concept of a damage surface to derive the damage evolution law. The damage surface is constructed so that it combines the conventional stress-based and fracture-mechanics-based failure criteria which take account of mode interaction in mixed-mode delamination problems. The damage surface shrinks as damage develops and leads to a softening interfacial constitutive law. By adjusting the shrinkage rate of the damage surface, various interfacial constitutive laws found in the literature can be reproduced. An incremental interfacial constitutive law is also derived for use in damage analysis of laminated composites, which is a non-linear problem in nature. Numerical predictions for problems involving a DCB specimen under pure mode I delamination and mixed-mode delamination in a split beam are in good agreement with available experimental data or analytical solutions. The model has also been applied to the prediction of the failure strength of overlap ply-blocking specimens. The results have been compared with available experimental and alternative theoretical ones and discussed fully.