Asymptotic homogenization of three-dimensional thermoelectric composites

Thermoelectric composites are promising for high efficiency energy conversion between thermal flows and electric conduction, though their effective behaviors remain poorly understood due to nonlinear thermoelectric coupling. In this paper, we develop an asymptotic homogenization theory to analyze the effective behavior of three-dimensional (3D) thermoelectric composites, built on the observation that the equations governing microscopic field fluctuations in the composite are actually linear instead of nonlinear after separation of length scales. A set of solutions similar to Green's function method are used to construct the unit cell problem, and appropriate interfacial continuity conditions and boundary conditions are derived. The homogenized governing equations are then developed for thermoelectric composites, and they are further reduced for a special case wherein the heat flow and electric conduction in the composite remains one-dimensional (1D) at macroscopic scale, even though the composite itself is 3D in general. The general homogenization theory is implemented using finite element method, and a key constant in the constructed solutions is determined using the reformulated eigenvalue problem. The algorithm is validated, and is applied for a number of case studies for the effective behavior of thermoelectric composites.     

Thermomechanical Multiscale Constitutive Modeling: Accounting for Microstructural Thermal Effects

In this work we present a thermomechanical multiscale constitutive model for materials with microstructure. In these materials thermal effects at microscale have an impact on the effective macroscopic stress. As a result, it turns out that the homogenized stress depends upon the macroscopic temperature and its gradient. In order to allow this interplay to be thermodynamically valid, we resort to a macroscopic extended thermodynamics whose elements are derived from the microscopic behavior using homogenization concepts. Hence, the thermodynamics implications of this new class of multiscale models are discussed. A variational approach based on the Hill–Mandel Principle of Macro-homogeneity, and which makes use of the volume averaging concept over a local representative volume element (RVE), is employed to derive the thermal and mechanical equilibrium problems at the RVE level and the corresponding homogenization expressions for the effective heat flux and stress. The material behavior at the RVE level is described through standard phenomenological constitutive models. To sum up, the novel contribution of the model presented here is that it allows to include the microscopic temperature fluctuation field, obtained from the multiscale thermal analysis, in the micro-mechanical problem at the RVE level while keeping thermodynamic consistency.     

Reiterated homogenization of a laminate with imperfect contact: gain-enhancement of effective properties

A family of one-dimensional (1D) elliptic boundary-value problems with periodic and rapidly-oscillating piecewise-smooth coefficients is considered. The coefficients depend on the local or fast variables corresponding to two different structural scales. A finite number of imperfect contact conditions are analyzed at each of the scales. The reiterated homogenization method (RHM) is used to construct a formal asymptotic solution. The homogenized problem, the local problems, and the corresponding effective coefficients are obtained. A variational formulation is derived to obtain an estimate to prove the proximity between the solutions of the original problem and the homogenized problem. Numerical computations are used to illustrate both the convergence of the solutions and the gain of the effective properties of a three-scale heterogeneous 1D laminate with respect to their two-scale counterparts. The theoretical and practical ideas exposed here could be used to mathematically model multidimensional problems involving multiscale composite materials with imperfect contact at the interfaces.     

数控机床电机散热温度场的数值模拟研究

电机作为数控机床的核心部件,其性能影响着机床主轴系统的精度、电机效率和使用寿命．因此,合理设计高速电机的结构使其处于最佳的温度场,了解电机在运行过程中各空气区域内的速度及温度分布非常重要．本文以某机床的电机定转子作为研究对象,利用CFD软件对转子通风道的设计方案进行数值模拟,通过数值模拟分析电机内部的流场温度场及流场分布．根据模拟结果进行优化设计,在转子和定子之间进行单排孔和双排孔的优化方案设计,通过温度分布确定最佳设计方案,为电机转子通风道的散热优化设计提供有意义的参考．     

Coupled Upscaling Approaches For Conduction, Convection, and Radiation in Porous Media: Theoretical Developments

This study deals with macroscopic modeling of heat transfer in porous media subjected to high temperature. The derivation of the macroscopic model, based on thermal non-equilibrium, includes coupling of radiation with the other heat transfer modes. In order to account for non-Beerian homogenized phases, the radiation model is based on the generalized radiation transfer equation and, under some conditions, on the radiative Fourier law. The originality of the present upscaling procedure lies in the application of the volume averaging method to local energy conservation equations in which radiation transfer is included. This coupled homogenization mainly raises three challenges. First, the physical natures of the coupled heat transfer modes are different. We have to deal with the coexistence of both the material system (where heat conduction and/or convection take place) and the non-material radiation field composed of photons. This radiation field is homogenized using a statistical approach leading to the definition of radiation properties characterized by statistical functions continuously defined in the whole volume of the porous medium. The second difficulty concerns the different scales involved in the upscaling procedure. Scale separation, required by the volume averaging method, must be compatible with the characteristic length scale of the statistical approach. The third challenge lies in radiation emission modeling, which depends on the temperature of the material system. For a semi-transparent phase, this temperature is obtained by averaging the local-scale temperature using a radiation intrinsic average while a radiation interface average is used for an opaque phase. This coupled upscaling procedure is applied to different combinations of opaque, transparent, or semi-transparent phases. The resulting macroscopic models involve several effective transport properties which are obtained by solving closure problems derived from the local-scale physics.     

Anisotropic effective higher-order response of heterogeneous Cauchy elastic materials

The homogenization results obtained by Bacca et al. (2013a), to identify the effective second-gradient elastic materials from heterogeneous Cauchy elastic solids, are extended here to the case of phases having non-isotropic tensors of inertia. It is shown that the nonlocal constitutive tensor for the homogenized material depends on both the inertia properties of the RVE and the difference between the effective and the matrix local elastic tensors. Results show that: (i) orthotropic nonlocal effects follow from homogenization of a dilute distribution of aligned elliptical holes and, in the limit case, of cracks; (ii) even under the dilute assumption and isotropic local effective behaviour, homogenization may lead to effective nonlocal orthotropic properties.     

Derivation of Micro/Macro Lithium Battery Models from Homogenization

In this article, we develop a micro–macroscopic coupled model aimed at studying the interplay between electrokinetics and transport in lithium ion batteries. The system studied consists of a solid (electrode material) and a liquid phase (electrolyte) with periodic microscopic features. In this work, homogenization of generalized Poisson–Nernst–Planck (PNP) equation set leads to a micro/macro formulation similar in nature to the one developed in Newman’s model for lithium batteries. Underlying conservation equations are derived for each phase using asymptotic expansions and mathematical tools from homogenization theory, starting from a PNP micromodel, and in particular Newman’s model is obtained as a corollary of the micro/macro approach developed here. The advantage of homogenization lies in the fact that effective parameters can be derived directly from the analysis of the periodic microstructure and from the application of the theory developed in this article. In addition, the advantages of using homogenization in Lithium ion battery modeling are outlined. Lastly, this work is a necessary step toward more general homogenized models and toward mathematical proofs, and it is also needed preliminary analysis for multiscale computational schemes.     

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.     

Thermoelastic characteristics of a composite solid with initial stresses

Thermoelastic problem for a composite solid with initial stresses is considered on the basis of the asymptotic homogenization method. The homogenized model is constructed by means of the two-scale asymptotic homogenization techniques. The major result of a present paper is that the effective (homogenized) thermoelastic characteristics of the composite material depend not only on local distributions of all types of material characteristics: local elastic properties, local thermoelastic properties, but also on local initial stresses. Therefore it is shown that for the inhomogeneous (composite) material local initial stresses contribute towards values of the effective characteristics of the material. This kind of interaction is not possible for the homogeneous materials. From the mathematical viewpoint, the asymptotic homogenization procedure is equivalent to the computation of G-limit of the corresponding operator. And the above noted phenomenon is based on the fact that in the considering case the G-limit of a sum is not equal to the sum of G-limits. The developed general homogenized model is illustrated in the particular case of the small initial stresses, which is common for the practical mechanical problems. The explicit formulas for the effective thermoelastic characteristics and numerical results are obtained for a laminated composite solid with the initial stresses.     

Sensitivity and randomness in homogenization of periodic fiber-reinforced composites via the response function method

The main issue this paper addresses is the derivation and implementation of a general homogenization method, including the simultaneous determination of sensitivity gradients and probabilistic moments of the effective elasticity tensor. This is possible with an application of the perturbation method based on Taylor expansion and with the effective modules method. The computational procedure is implemented using plane strain analysis carried out with the finite element method (program MCCEFF) and the symbolic computations system MAPLE. The sensitivity gradients and probabilistic moments are commonly determined on the basis of partial derivatives for the homogenized elasticity tensor, calculated using the response function method with respect to some composite parameters. They are subjected separately to a normalization procedure (in deterministic analysis) and the relevant algebraic combinations (for the stochastic case). This enriched homogenization procedure is tested on a periodic fiber-reinforced two component composite, where the material parameters are taken as design variables and then, the input random quantities. The results of computational analysis are compared against the results of the central finite difference approach in the case of sensitivity gradients determination as well as the direct Monte-Carlo simulation approach. This numerical methodology may be further applied not only in the context of the homogenization method, but also to extend various discrete computational techniques, such as Boundary/Finite element and finite difference together with various meshless methods.     

PREDICTION OF THE VISCOELASTIC PROPERTIES OF THE EQUIVALENT PARTICLE FOR THE INTERCALATED MULTI-LAYER STACK OF NANOPLASTICS

The aim of this paper is to apply the asymptotic homogenization method to deter- mining analytically and numerically the transversely isotropic viscoelastic relaxation moduli of the equivalent particle for the intercalated multi-layer stack of intercalated type nanoplastics.A two-phase multilayered material containing n layers is considered.The matrix is assumed to be an isotropic viscoelastic standard linear body and the reinforcement is assumed to be an isotropic elastic body.Final explicit analytical formulae for the effective elastic moduli of the multilay- ered material are derived first;and then the correspondence principle is employed to obtain the homogenized relaxation moduli of the equivalent intercalated particle.A numerical example is given.Final explicit analytical formulae in the time domain derived here make it convenient to estimate the influence of all the particle parameters of micro-structural details on the effective properties of the equivalent intercalated particle.The results of this paper can also be applied to multi-layer composites.     

Numerical simulation and homogenization of two-phase flow in heterogeneous porous media

A mathematically rigorous method of homogenization is presented and used to analyze the equivalent behavior of transient flow of two incompressible fluids through heterogeneous media. Asymptotic expansions and H-convergence lead to the definition of a global or effective model of an equivalent homogeneous reservoir. Numerical computations to obtain the homogenized coefficients of the entire reservoir have been carried out via a finite element method. Numerical experiments involving the simulation of incompressible two-phase flow have been performed for each heterogeneous medium and for the homogenized medium as well as for other averaging methods. The results of the simulations are compared in terms of the transient saturation contours, production curves, and pressure distributions. Results obtained from the simulations with the homogenization method presented show good agreement with the heterogeneous simulations.     

A Comparison of the Response of Isotropic Inhomogeneous Elastic Cylindrical and Spherical Shells and Their Homogenized Counterparts

All real bodies are inhomogeneous, though in many such bodies the inhomogeneity is “mild” in that the response of the bodies can be “approximated” well by the response of a homogeneous approximation. In this study we explore the status of such approximations when one is concerned with bodies whose response is nonlinear. We find that significant departures in response can occur between that of a “mildly” inhomogeneous body and its homogeneous approximation (if the approximate model is restricted to a certain class), both quantitatively and qualitatively. We illustrate this fact within the context of a specific boundary value problem, the inflation of an inhomogeneous spherical shell. We also discuss the inappropriateness of homogenization procedures that lead to a homogenized stored energy for the body when in fact what is required is a homogenized model that predicts the appropriate stresses as they invariably determine the failure or integrity of the body.     

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.     

Jump Conditions and Surface-Excess Quantities at a Fluid/Porous Interface: A Multi-scale Approach

We present a two-step up-scaling approach that allows to derive the jump conditions that must be imposed at the interface to account for transport phenomena in a fluid/porous domain. This general approach is first applied to a heat conduction problem to illustrate the main steps of the analysis. The heat flux and temperature jump conditions are related to surface-excess quantities, whose values depend on the interface location. Good agreement between the mesoscopic and macroscopic results are obtained, whatever the position of the interface inside the transition region. The approach is then applied to the problem of a laminar flow over a porous medium. The Beavers and Joseph relation is recovered, but only for a particular position of the interface.     

Asymptotic expansion homogenization of discrete fine-scale models with rotational degrees of freedom for the simulation of quasi-brittle materials

Discrete fine-scale models, in the form of either particle or lattice models, have been formulated successfully to simulate the behavior of quasi-brittle materials whose mechanical behavior is inherently connected to fracture processes occurring in the internal heterogeneous structure. These models tend to be intensive from the computational point of view as they adopt an “a priori” discretization anchored to the major material heterogeneities (e.g. grains in particulate materials and aggregate pieces in cementitious composites) and this hampers their use in the numerical simulations of large systems. In this work, this problem is addressed by formulating a general multiple scale computational framework based on classical asymptotic analysis and that (1) is applicable to any discrete model with rotational degrees of freedom; and (2) gives rise to an equivalent Cosserat continuum. The developed theory is applied to the upscaling of the Lattice Discrete Particle Model (LDPM), a recently formulated discrete model for concrete and other quasi-brittle materials, and the properties of the homogenized model are analyzed thoroughly in both the elastic and the inelastic regime. The analysis shows that the homogenized micropolar elastic properties are size-dependent, and they are functions of the RVE size and the size of the material heterogeneity. Furthermore, the analysis of the homogenized inelastic behavior highlights issues associated with the homogenization of fine-scale models featuring strain-softening and the related damage localization. Finally, nonlinear simulations of the RVE behavior subject to curvature components causing bending and torsional effects demonstrate, contrarily to typical Cosserat formulations, a significant coupling between the homogenized stress–strain and couple-curvature constitutive equations.     

周期性结构热动力时间-空间多尺度分析

研究一种时间-空间多尺度渐近均匀化分析方法，模拟不同的极端热和动力载荷下微尺度多 相周期性结构中热动力响应问题，并建立一个广义的波动函数场控制方程描述热动力响应. 通过引入一个放大空间尺度和两个缩小时间尺度，在不同时间尺度上获得由空间非均匀性引 起的波动效应和非局部效应. 根据高阶均匀化理论在空间和时间上进行均匀化，获得高阶非 局部函数场波动方程. 并进一步用C0连续修正了高阶非局部函数场波动方程的有限元近 似解，使问题的求解避免了对有限元离散的C1连续性要求. 并与经典的空间均匀化方法 相比较，指出了经典的空间均匀化方法的局限性，进一步以一维非傅立叶热传导和热动力问 题为例，讨论了各种情况下方法的正确性与有效性.     

An exact and explicit treatment of an elliptic hole problem in thermopiezoelectric media

This paper presents an exact solution for the problem of an elliptic hole or a crack in a thermopiezoelectric solid. First, based on the extended version of Eshelby–Stroh's formulation, the generalized 2D problems of an elliptical hole in a thermopiezoelectric medium subject to uniform heat flow and mechanical–electrical loads at infinity are studied according to exact boundary conditions at the rim of the hole. The complex potentials in the medium and the electric field inside the hole are obtained in closed form, respectively. Then, when the hole degenerates into a crack, the explicit solutions for the field intensity factors near the crack tip and the electric field inside the crack are presented. It is shown that the singularities of all the field are dependent on the material constants, the applied heat load and mechanical loads at infinity, but not on the applied electric loads. It is also found that the electric field inside the crack is linearly variable, which is different from the result based on the impermeable crack model.     

Application of simple,periodic homogenization techniques to non-linear heat conduction problems in non-periodic,porous media

Often, detailed simulations of heat conduction in complicated, porous media have large runtimes. Then homogenization is a powerful tool to speed up the calculations by preserving accurate solutions at the same time. Unfortunately real structures are generally non-periodic, which requires unpractical, complicated homogenization techniques. We demonstrate in this paper, that the application of simple, periodic techniques to realistic media, that are just close to periodic, gives accurate, approximative solutions. In order to obtain effective parameters for the homogenized heat equation, we have to solve a so called “cell problem”. In contrast to periodic structures it is not trivial to determine a suitable unit cell, which represents a non-periodic media. To overcome this problem, we give a rule of thumb on how to choose a good cell. Finally we demonstrate the efficiency of our method for virtually generated foams as well as real foams and compare these results to periodic structures.