On the macroscopic material behaviour of textile reinforced concrete undertensile loading

This paper concerns with the development of the macroscopic material behaviour of textile reinforced concrete (TRC) using an analytical approach. Therefore the heterogeneous structure of TRC is modelled on the mesoscopic level. The overall material behaviour on the macroscopic level is obtained by means of the homogenisation technique. The analytical approach is based on the micro mechanical solution for a single inclusion according to Eshelby . In extension of this solution for multidirectional reinforced concrete an effective field approximation is used. This approach considers the interactions between the different orientated rovings and the micro cracks in an average sense. For the mechanical modelling of the bond behaviour between roving and matrix after initiating of the macro cracking a slip based bond model with a multiple linear shear stress-slip relation is used. (© 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Topological sensitivity analysis of a multi‐scale constitutive model considering a cracked microstructure

This paper deals with the sensitivity analysis of the macroscopic elasticity tensor to topological microstructural changes of the underlying material. In particular, the microstucture is topologicaly perturbed by the nucleation of a small circular inclusion. The derivation of the proposed sensitivity relies on the concept of topological derivative, applied within a variational multi‐scale constitutive framework where the macroscopic strain and stress at each point of the macroscopic continuum are defined as volume averages of their microscopic counterparts over a representative volume element (RVE) of material associated with that point. We consider that the RVE can contain a number of voids, inclusions and/or cracks. It is assumed that non‐penetration conditions are imposed at the crack faces, which do not allow the opposite crack faces to penetrate each other. The derived sensitivity leads to a symmetric fourth‐order tensor field over the unperturbed RVE domain, which measures how the macroscopic elasticity parameters estimated within the multi‐scale framework changes when a small circular inclusion is introduced at the micro‐scale level. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the simulation of textile reinforced composites and structures

This paper presents experimental and numerical methods to perform simulations of the mechanical behavior of textile reinforced composites and structures. The first aspect considered refers to the meso-to-macro transition in the framework of the finite element (FE) method. Regarding an effective modelling strategy the Binary Model is used to represent the discretized complex architecture of the composite. To simulate the local response and to compute the macroscopic stress and stiffness undergoing small strain a user routine is developed. The results are transfered to the macroscopic model during the solution process. The second aspect concerns the configuration of the fiber orientation and textile shear deformation in complex structural components. To take these deformations which affect the macroscopic material properties into account they are regarded in a macroscopic FE model. (© 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Rate‐type Model for electro‐rheological Material Behaviour consistent with Extended Thermodynamics: Application to a steady viscometric flow

Based on extended thermodynamics, a class of rate‐type constitutive equations for electrorheological materials is presented. It is shown unlike many recent works using standard methods of continuum mechanics, that this approach, which consists in postulating expressions which relate the time derivative of the Cauchy stress to the motion, takes well account of the viscoelastic‐plastic effects as well as the coupling between the motion and the electric field. By considering special cases it turns out that the derived nonlinear algebraic model embeds a variety of existing differential models in the literature. The accuracy of the model is illustrated by considering a steady shear flow in which the electric field is applied perpendicularly to the flow direction. Analytical solutions with various parameter variations are obtained and discussed. The model predicts well the behaviour associated with material instabilities observed in viscometric flows for which the existence of the yield stress is required as confirmed by many experiments.     

On the effective viscosity of a periodic suspension – analysis of primal and dual formulations for Newtonian and non‐Newtonian solvents

Computer simulations of the injection molding process of fiber‐reinforced plastics critically depend on the accuracy of the constitutive models. Of prime importance for the process simulation is the precise knowledge of the viscosity. Industrial applications generally feature both high shear rates and high fiber volume fractions. Thus, both the shear‐thinning behavior of the melt and the strong anisotropic effects induced by the fibers play a dominant role. Unfortunately, the viscosity cannot be determined experimentally in its full anisotropy, and analytical models cease to be accurate for the high fiber volume fractions in question. Computing the effective viscosity by a simplified homogenization approach serves as a possible remedy. This paper is devoted to the analysis of a cell problem determining the effective viscosity. We provide primal as well as dual formulations and prove corresponding existence and uniqueness theorems for Newtonian and Carreau fluids in suitable Sobolev spaces. In the Newtonian regime, the primal formulation leads to a saddle point problem, whereas a dual formulation can be obtained in terms of a coercive and symmetric bilinear form. This observation has deep implications for numerical formulations. As a by‐product, we obtain the invertibility of the effective viscosity, considered as a function, mapping the macroscopic shear rate to the macroscopic shear stress. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Localisation in granular media: Particle approach,homogenisation and continuum modelling

The individual motion of grains in granular material has a strong influence on the macroscopic material behaviour, which is in particular the case for the phenomena of strain localisation in shear zones and justifies the need for techniques that incorporate a micro-macro transition. In this contribution, granular media are investigated in three steps. Firstly, a microscopic particle-based modelling is set up, where individual grains are considered as rigid uncrushable particles while their motion is obtained through Newton's equations of state. The inter-particle contact forces are thereby determined via constitutive contact-force formulations, which have to account for the envisaged material behaviour. The second step is the homogenisation of the obtained particle's displacements and contact forces through a particle-centre-based strategy towards continuum quantities. Therefore, Representative Elementary Volumes (REV) are introduced on the mesoscale and the specific construction of the REV boundary leads to the understanding of granular media as a micropolar continuum. Finally, in order to verify the homogenisation strategy, a continuum based micropolar model is applied to model localisation phenomena and a comparative study of the results is carried out in a qualitative way. (© 2014 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A homogeneous limit methodology and refinements of computationally efficient zigzag theory for homogeneous,laminated composite,and sandwich plates

The Refined Zigzag Theory (RZT) for homogeneous, laminated composite, and sandwich plates is revisited to offer a fresh insight into its fundamental assumptions and practical possibilities. The theory is introduced from a multiscale formalism starting with the inplane displacement field expressed as a superposition of coarse and fine contributions. The coarse displacement field is that of first‐order shear‐deformation theory, whereas the fine displacement field has a piecewise‐linear zigzag distribution through the thickness. The resulting kinematic field provides a more realistic representation of the deformation states of transverse‐shear‐flexible plates than other similar theories. The condition of limiting homogeneity of transverse‐shear properties is proposed and yields four distinct variants of zigzag functions. Analytic solutions for highly heterogeneous sandwich plates undergoing elastostatic deformations are used to identify the best‐performing zigzag functions. Unlike previously used methods, which often result in anomalous conditions and nonphysical solutions, the present theory does not rely on transverse‐shear‐stress equilibrium constraints. For all material systems, there are no requirements for use of transverse‐shear correction factors to yield accurate results. To model homogeneous plates with the full power of zigzag kinematics, infinitesimally small perturbations in the transverse shear properties are derived, thus enabling highly accurate predictions of homogeneous‐plate behavior without the use of shear correction factors. The RZT predictive capabilities to model highly heterogeneous sandwich plates are critically assessed, demonstrating its superior efficiency, accuracy, and a wide range of applicability. This theory, which is derived from the virtual work principle, is well‐suited for developing computationally efficient, C⁰ a continuous function of (x₁,x₂) coordinates whose first‐order derivatives are discontinuous along finite element interfaces and is thus appropriate for the analysis and design of high‐performance load‐bearing aerospace structures. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 2010     

Particle simulation of granular media and homogenisation towards continuum quantities

From a microscopic point of view, various natural and engineering materials consist of individual grains, whose motion strongly influence the macroscopic material behaviour. Exemplarily, one may look at the development of shear zones in natural granular materials, such as sand, occurring as a result of local grain dislocations and the transition of the granulate from a denser to a looser packing. The intuitive modelling approach for granular assemblies is consequently the consideration of each grain as a rigid particle. In a numerical framework, this leads to the Discrete Element Method (DEM), wherein the motion of each particle can be obtained solving Newton's equations for each particle. The present contribution discusses the basic fundaments of modelling granular material on the microscopic scale by use of the DEM. Special interest is taken to the constitutive choice of the governing particle-to-particle contact forces, as they have to account for plastic material behaviour as well as for assumptions concerning particle shape, size and distribution. As engineering problems are regularly described on the macroscale by means of continuum mechanics, a homogenisation strategy transfers the information from the microscale towards continuum quantities via volume averaging. Therefore, characteristic Representative Elementary Volumes (REV) are constructed by an ensemble of particles, where each particle can be chosen as the centre of a REV. (© 2013 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Parameter–identification of macroscopic material models based on virtual testing of given material mesostructures

For many heterogeneous materials such as composites and polycrystals, the material modeling for the constituents on a representative mesoscale can be considered as known, including concrete values of their inherent material parameters. Typical examples are isotropic elastic–plastic models for the constituents of composites or anisotropic crystal–plasticity models for the grains of polycrystals. This knowledge can be exploited with regard to the modeling of the homogenized macroscopic response. In particular, parameters in macroscopic models may be identified by virtual experiments provided by a computational deformation–driving of representative mesostructures. This paper outlines the general concept for the parameter–identification of macroscopic materialmodels based on the virtual testing of given material mesostructures. The virtual test data are obtained in the form of multi–dimensional stress–strain paths by applying different deformation gradients to a given mesostructure. After specifying a corresponding macroscopic material model covering the observed effects on the macroscale, the material parameters are identified by a least–square–type optimization procedure that optimizes the macroscopic material parameters. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Representation of the linear viscoelastic behaviour of wood with a constitutive theory based on fractional time derivatives

Like many other materials used in mechanical and civil engineering, wood shows a pronounced history-dependent mechanical material behaviour. Due to its anisotropy its rheological behaviour is strongly dependent on the direction. In this research project, the material behaviour is represented with a phenomenological theory of anisotropic fractional viscoelasticity. In order to identify the material functions and parameters, the time-dependent creep compliances are measured in three orthogonal directions under tension and shear. As a result of the developed constitutive approach, the experimentally observed creep data is described by several power functions. In the second part of the presentation, some differences between classical models of viscoelasticity which are based on Kelvin-Voigt or Maxwell elements and the fractional approach are presented. The assets and drawbacks with respect to wood are discussed. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Granular materials: Parameter identification and modelling of localisation problems

The prediction of landsliding requires an exact knowledge of the mechanical behaviour of granular materials. This kind of materials, e. g., sand, have a very complex deformation behaviour, which depend on the stress state and on the loading history. In this work, the deformation behaviour of the solid skeleton is characterised via homogeneous triaxial tests on dry sand specimens. Additionally, an appropriate elasto-plastic material law to describe the solid skeleton in the frame of Theory of Porous Media (TPM) is used, which is implemented in the FE tool PANDAS. Furthermore, a single-surface yield criterion with isotropic hardening, which limits the elastic domain, and a non-associated plastic flow are employed. The determination of the material parameters of the linear elasticity law as well as the single-surface yield criterion are based on test data of triaxial experiments. The material parameters are identified using a derivative-based optimisation method (donlp2), which is coupled with PANDAS. Finally, a simulation of a benchmark test is presented to show shear band localisation effects, where the material behaviour is described by a triphasic porous media model based on the TPM, where the constituents are a deformable solid skeleton and two pore fluids, water and air. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Influence of the nonlinear matrix material behaviour on the effective properties of textile-reinforced thermoplastics

For a consistent lightweight design the consideration of the nonlinear macroscopic material behaviour of composites, which is amongst others driven by damage and strain-rate effects on the mesoscale, is required. Therefore, a modelling approach using numerical homogenization techniques is applied to predict the effective nonlinear material behaviour of the composite based on the finite element simulation of a representative volume element (RVE). In this RVE suitable constitutive relations account for the material behaviour of each constituents. While the reinforcing glass fibres are assumed to remain linear elastic, a viscoplastic constitutive law is applied to represent the strain-rate dependent, inelastic deformation of the matrix material. In order to analyse the influence of the nonlinear matrix material behaviour on the global mechanical response of the composite, effective stress-strain-curves are computed for different load cases and compared to experimental observations. (© 2009 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Stress mode dependent weighting functions for simulation of asymmetric creep effects

The paper presents a framework for creep modeling of materials, which experimentelly exhibit different behaviour in different loading scenarios such as tension, compression and shear, respectively. To this end the characterization of the stress modes is obtained in the octahedral plane of the deviatoric stress space in terms of the Lode angle, such that stress mode dependent scalar weighting functions can be constructed. These are exploited to formulate an additive decomposition of the flow rule into a sum of weighted stress mode related quantities. Verification of the approach is succeeded for a superalloy RENE95. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Computation of the effective nonlinear material behaviour of composites using X-FEM - Analysis of the matrix material behaviour

For a consequent lightweight design the consideration of the nonlinear macroscopic material behaviour of composites, which is amongst others driven by damage and strain–rate effects on the mesoscale, is required. Therefore, the modelling approach using numerical homogenization techniques based on the simulation of representative volume elements which are modelled by the extended finite element method (X–FEM) is currently extended to nonlinear material behaviour. While the glass fibres are assumed to remain linear elastic, a viscoplastic constitutive law accounts for strain–rate dependence and inelastic deformation of the matrix material. This paper describes the process of finding suitable constitutive relations for the polymeric matrix material Polypropylene in the small–strain regime. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Plastic flow in very low temperature regime within annular micropores

The rate of deformation for glassy (amorphous) matter confined in microscopic domain at very low temperature regime was investigated using a rate-state-dependent model considering the shear thinning behavior which means, once material being subjected to high shear rates, the viscosity diminishes with increasing shear rate. The preliminary results show that there might be the enhanced rate of deformation and (shear) yield stress due to the almost vanishing viscosity in micropores subjected to some surface conditions: The relatively larger roughness (compared to the macroscopic domain) inside micropores and the slip. As the pore size decreases, the surface-to-volume ratio increases and therefore, surface roughness will greatly affect the (plastic) flow in micropores. By using the boundary perturbation method, we obtained a class of microscopic fields for the rate of deformation and yield stress at low temperature regime with the presumed small wavy roughness distributed along the walls of an annular micropore.     

Plastic flow in very low temperature regime within annular micropores

The rate of deformation for glassy (amorphous) matter confined in microscopic domain at very low temperature regime was investigated using a rate-state-dependent model considering the shear thinning behavior which means, once material being subjected to high shear rates, the viscosity diminishes with increasing shear rate. The preliminary results show that there might be the enhanced rate of deformation and (shear) yield stress due to the almost vanishing viscosity in micropores subjected to some surface conditions: The relatively larger roughness (compared to the macroscopic domain) inside micropores and the slip. As the pore size decreases, the surface-to-volume ratio increases and therefore, surface roughness will greatly affect the (plastic) flow in micropores. By using the boundary perturbation method, we obtained a class of microscopic fields for the rate of deformation and yield stress at low temperature regime with the presumed small wavy roughness distributed along the walls of an annular micropore.     

Modelling Metals At Finite Deformation

During metal forming processes, substantial microstructural changes occur in the material due to large plastic deformations leading to different mechanical properties. It is of great interest to predict the behaviour of these materials at different fabriction stages and of the final product. At first glance, the behaviour of metals can be approached by an elastoplastic isotropic material model with a volumetric-deviatoric split and isotropic hardening. In order to perform the calculations, a logarithmic strain is considered in the principal directions of stress and strain space, allowing to make predictions even at finite deformations. Because of the actual nature of metals, the crystalline structure, the deformation at the microstructural level is much more complex. Due to the mathematically algorithmic form of an elastic predictor and a plastic corrector, the elastoplastic model can be extended to crystal plasticity which is similarly handled in terms of a critical resolved shear stress on defined slip planes in the crystal. Hardening can be modelled through a viscoplastic power law. (© 2010 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Asymptotic analysis of elastic curved rods

We consider a sequence of curved rods which consist of isotropic material and which are clamped on the lower base or on both bases. We study the asymptotic behaviour of the stress tensor and displacement under the assumptions of linearized elasticity when the cross‐sectional diameter of the rods tends to zero and the body force is given in the particular form. The analysis covers the case of a non‐smooth limit line of centroids. We show how the body force and the choice of the approximating curved rods can affect the strong convergence and the limit form of the stress tensor for the curved rods clamped on both bases. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Anisotropic stress-softening model for compressible solids

A general constitutive theory for anisotropic stress softening in compressible solids is presented. The constitutive equation describes anisotropic strain induced behaviour of an initially “isotropic” virgin material. Parameters which characterise damage are proposed together with a concept of damage function. In order to develop an anisotropic stress-softening theory for compressible materials in close parallel to a recent incompressible anisotropic theory, the right stretch tensor is decomposed into its isochoric and dilatational parts. The ’free’ energy is expressed as a function of the dilatation, modified principal stretches, a volume change parameter and invariants of the dyadic products of the principal directions of the right stretch tensor and two structural tensors. A class of free energy functions is discussed and a special form of this class which satisfies the Clausius–Duhem inequality is proposed. Results of the theory applied to uniaxial tension, bulk compression and simple shear deformations are given. A sequence of deformations involving shear, hydrostatic-compression and hydrostatic-tension deformations is also investigated. In the case of hydrostatic-tension deformation, the stress softening is due to cavitation damage. The theoretical results obtained are consistent with expected behaviour and compare well with experimental data.