Strain energy density bounds for linear anisotropic elastic materials

Upper and lower bounds are presented for the magnitude of the strain energy density in linear anisotropic elastic materials. One set of bounds is given in terms of the magnitude of the stress field, another in terms of the magnitude of the strain field. Explicit algebraic formulas are given for the bounds in the case of cubic, transversely isotropic, hexagonal and tetragonal symmetry. In the case of orthotropic symmetry the explicit bounds depend upon the solution of a cubic equation, and in the case of the monoclinic and triclinic symmetries, on the solution of sixth order equations.     

An explicit formulation of a three-dimensional material damping model with transverse isotropy

A constitutive three-dimensional (3D) damping model is derived for transversely isotropic material symmetry, using the augmented Hooke's law [Intl. J. Solids Struct. 32 (1995) 2835] as a starting point. The proposed material model is tested numerically, via finite-element techniques, on a laminate structure built from stacked aluminium and Plexiglas plates. Effective 3D transversely isotropic material properties are given in terms of homogeneous material damping functions in connection with homogenised elastic laminate properties. Comparisons made between the results from the elastic (undamped) eigenvalue problem of the detailed (layerwise) model of the laminate and the effective 3D elastic model show that the homogenised model is reasonably accurate, in terms of predicted elastic eigenfrequencies for the first 20 modes. The dynamic homogenisation process, with damping included, is evaluated in terms of forced vibration response for the laminate structure, using effective transversely isotropic frequency dependent material properties. The dynamic 3D effective homogeneous material model is found to simulate very closely the detailed model in the studied frequency interval for the numerical test case.     

Averaging Anisotropic Elastic Constant Data

A method of averaging the data on the anisotropic elastic constants of a material is presented. The anisotropic elastic constants are represented by the elasticity tensor which is expressed as a second rank tensor in a space of six dimensions. The method consists of averaging eigenbases of different measurements of the elasticity tensor, then averaging the eigenvalues referred to the average eigenbasis. The eigenvalues and eigenvectors are obtained by using a representation of the stress-strain relations due, in principle, to Kelvin [17, 18]. The formulas for the representation of the averaged elasticity tensor are simple and concise. The applications of these formulas are illustrated using previously reported data, and are contrasted with the traditional analysis of the same data by Hearmon [9]. An interesting result that emerges from this analysis is a method dealing with variable composition anisotropic elastic materials whose elastic constants depend upon the particular composition. In the case of porous isotropic materials, for example, it is customary to regress the Young's modulus against porosity. The results of this paper suggest a structure or paradigm for extending to anisotropic materials this empirical method of regressing elastic constant data against composition or porosity.     

Hill–Mandel condition and bounds on lower symmetry elastic crystals

Despite advances in contemporary micromechanics, there is a void in the literature on a versatile method for estimating the effective properties of polycrystals comprising of highly anisotropic single crystals belonging to lower symmetry class. Basing on variational principles in elasticity and the Hill–Mandel homogenization condition, we propose a versatile methodology to fill this void. It is demonstrated that the bounds obtained using the Hill–Mandel condition are tighter than the Voigt and Reuss [1], [2] bounds, the Hashin–Shtrikman [3] bounds as well as a recently proposed self-consistent estimate by Kube and Arguelles [4] even for polycrystals with highly anisotropic single crystals.     

The Remarkable Nature of Radially Symmetric Deformation of Spherically Uniform Linear Anisotropic Elastic Solids

Antman and Negron-Marrero [1] have shown the remarkable nature of a sphere of nonlinear elastic material subjected to a uniform pressure at the surface of the sphere. When the applied pressure exceeds a critical value the stress at the center r=0 of the sphere is infinite. Instead of nonlinear elastic material, we consider in this paper a spherically uniform linear anisotropic elastic material. It means that the stress-strain law referred to a spherical coordinate system is the same for any material point. We show that the same remarkable nature appears here. What distinguishes the present case from that considered in [1] is that the existence of the infinite stress at r=0 is independent of the magnitude of the applied traction σ0 at the surface of the sphere. It depends only on one nondimensional material parameter κ. For a certain range of κ a cavitation (if σ0>0) or a blackhole (if σ0<0) occurs at the center of the sphere. What is more remarkable is that, even though the deformation is radially symmetric, the material at any point need not be transversely isotropic with the radial direction being the axis of symmetry as assumed in [1]. We show that the material can be triclinic, i.e., it need not possess a plane of material symmetry. Triclinic materials that have as few as two independent elastic constants are presented. Also presented are conditions for the materials that are capable of a radially symmetric deformation to possess one or more symmetry planes. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Derivation of the general form of elasticity tensor of the transverse isotropic material by tensor derivate

SymbolsU--FunchonofstrainenergyQ--OrthonormaltensorE--StraintensorEar--ComponentsofthestraintensorE,i,j=l,2,3n--VectorofthesymmetricaamsofthetransverseisotropicmaterialU*,E.,n*--FormsofU,EandninanothercoordinatesystemJf--MaininvariantsofstraintensorE,i=l,2,3Jf'n--InvariantsofstraintensorEconnectingwithvectorn,i=4,5Ji--TheabbreviatedformsofJf,Jf,Jf,Jf,",Jf,",i=l,2,3,4,5fi--ConstantsindependentonE,n,i=l,2,3,4,5el,e"--Thecovariantandcontravariantofthonormalbasisoftheusedcoordinatesyste…     

Constitutive Relation of Elastic Polycrystal with Quadratic Texture Dependence

Herein we consider polycrystalline aggregates of cubic crystallites with arbitrary texture symmetry. We present a theory in which we keep track of the effects of crystallographic texture on elastic response up to terms quadratic in the texture coefficients. Under this theory, the Lamé constants pertaining to the isotropic part of the effective elasticity tensor of the polycrystal will generally depend on the texture. We introduce also two simple models, which we call HM-V and HM-R, by which we derive an explicit expression for the effective stiffness tensor and one for the effective compliance tensor. Each of these expressions contains a term quadratic in the texture coefficients and, in addition to three parameters given in terms of the single-crystal elastic constants, each carries an undetermined material coefficient. These two remaining coefficients can be determined by imposing the requirement that the expressions from models HM-V and HM-R be compatible to within terms linear in the texture coefficients.     

Saint-Venant Decay Rates for an Isotropic Inhomogeneous Linearly Elastic Solid in Anti-Plane Shear

The purpose of this research is to investigate the effects of material inhomogeneity on the decay of Saint-Venant end effects in linear isotropic elasticity. This question is addressed within the context of anti-plane shear deformations of an inhomogeneous isotropic elastic solid. The mathematical issues involve the effects of spatial inhomogeneity on the decay rates of solutions to Dirichlet or Neumann boundary-value problems for a second-order linear elliptic partial differential equation with variable coefficients on a semi-infinite strip. The elastic coefficients are assumed to be smooth functions of the transverse coordinate. The estimated rate of exponential decay with distance from the loaded end (a lower bound for the exact rate of decay) is characterized in terms of the smallest positive eigenvalue of a Sturm–Liouville problem with variable coefficients. Analytic lower bounds for this eigenvalue are used to obtain the desired estimated decay rates. Numerical techniques are also employed to assess the accuracy of the analytic results. A related eigenvalue optimization question is discussed and its implications for the issue of material tailoring is addressed. The results of this paper are applicable to continuously inhomogeneous materials and, in particular, to functionally graded materials. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A note on duality in finite elasticity

The duality between stress and deformation fields for plane deformations of a compressible isotropic hyperelastic material established by J. M. Hill [1]is generalized to deformations of a homogeneous elastic material without the restrictions of isotropy and hyperelasticity. At the same time a clarification of Hill's results is achieved.     

Uniqueness of Equilibrium Solutions in Second-Order Gradient Nonlinear Elasticity

We consider a three-dimensional elastic body whose material response function depends not only on the gradient of the deformation, but also on its second gradient. Using the elastic energy-momentum tensor as derived by Eshelby [2] we generalize a well-known uniqueness result of Knops and Stuart [8] for a Dirichlet boundary value problem associated with this response function.     

Overall longitudinal shear elastic modulus of a 1–3 composite with anisotropic constituents

The overall properties of a binary elastic periodic fiber-reinforced composite, with transversely isotropic constituents in an anti-plane-strain deformation state, are studied here for a cell periodicity of square type. This analysis considers four different orientations of the axis of transverse isotropy of constituents with respect to the direction of fibers. Each case is characterized by very simple closed-form expressions for the effective coefficients, which were obtained using the asymptotic homogenization method. Local problems defined on a periodic square unit cell are solved using Weierstrassian and Natanzon’s functions and perturbation theory relative to small anisotropy. In the isotropic limit, comparison with rigorous bounds and some well-known mixing rules are made. Also, comparisons with finite element calculations show that the derived closed-form formulae provide excellent results even for large anisotropy.     

Generalized Baker–Ericksen Inequalities

It is well known that isotropic, nonlinearly elastic materials satisfy the Baker–Ericksen inequalities as a consequence of the strong ellipticity or rank 1 convexity. Here we present a generalization to a non-isotropic elastic material which posseses a preferred element in the symmetry group.     

Determination of All 21 Independent Elastic Coefficients of Generally Anisotropic Solids by Resonant Ultrasound Spectroscopy: Benchmark Examples

We present an experimental methodology for determination of all 21 elastic constants of materials with general (triclinic) anisotropy. This methodology is based on contactless resonant ultrasound spectroscopy complemented by pulse-echo measurements and enables full characterization of elastic anisotropy of such materials from measurements on a single small specimen of a parallelogram shape. The methodology is applied to two benchmark examples: a material with generally rotated cubic anisotropy (single crystal of silicon) and an isotropic material (silicon-infiltrated silicon carbide ceramics). In both the proposed approach is able to provide a full triclinic tensor with relatively low experimental errors and to identify indubitably the anisotropy class of the material; for the cubic material also the orientations of the principal axes and the cubic elastic coefficients are reliably determined.     

Experimental material damping estimation for planar isotropic laminate structures

A three-dimensional material damping estimation methodology is proposed for planar isotropic material symmetry by using a constitutive viscoelastic vibration model. The proposed material model is verified, via finite-element techniques, on three laminate structures. The first one is a numerical test structure composed by stacked aluminium and plexiglas plates. In this case the effective three-dimensional planar isotropic material properties are given in terms of homogeneous material damping functions in connection with homogenised elastic laminate properties. Comparisons made between the results from the detailed (layer-wise) model of the laminate and the effective three-dimensional model show that the estimated homogenised model is reasonably accurate, in terms of predicted vibration responses. Finally, estimations of planar isotropic material damping are done for two practically interesting experimental structures, a carbon fibre–epoxy laminate structure and an aluminium laminate including a constrained viscoelastic layer damping treatment. In this context, it is found that the dominating damping mechanisms are different in these two cases. The dynamic homogenisation process, with damping included, is evaluated quantitatively in terms of predicted forced vibration response for the laminate structure, using effective planar isotropic frequency dependent material properties. The dynamic three-dimensional effective homogeneous material models, for these two cases, are found to be close to measurements in a frequency interval corresponding to the first 17 modes.     

Almansi-type boundary conditions for electric potential inducing flexure in linear piezoelectric beams

Using the recent results found in [1, 2] we prove that it is possible to induce flexure in linear piezoelectric beams by means of quadratic Almansi type boundary conditions for the electric potential. Beams constituted by transversely isotropic piezoelectric materials whose symmetry axis is parallel to the axis of the beam are considered. Our choice of boundary conditions for the electric potential has been suggested by the results found in [1, 3]. An explicit expression of material parameters that influence flexure is given in terms of piezoelectric moduli. Received: October 21, 1996     

Wave Reflection in Triclinic Crystalline Medium

In this paper, the reflection of a plane wave at a traction free boundary of a half -space composed of triclinic crystalline material is considered. It is shown that an incident plane wave generates three plane waves, namely quasi-P (qP), quasi-SV (qSV) and quasi-SH (qSH) waves governed by the propagation condition involving the acoustic tensor. A simple procedure is presented for the calculation of all the three phase velocities of these waves. It is demonstrated that the direction of particle motion is neither parallel nor perpendicular to the direction of propagation. A procedure is established for the calculation of the amplitude vector in terms of the phase velocity, the propagation vector, and the stiffness coefficients of the medium. Closed form solutions are obtained for the reflection coefficients of qP, qSV and qSH waves. Using the parameters of Vosges sandstone exhibiting triclinic symmetry, the graphical representations of the reflection coefficients due to an incident qP wave are given. It is observed that, in triclinic medium, the reflection coefficients are significantly different from those in an isotropic medium.     

Thermal expansion of polycrystalline aggregates: I. Exact analysis

An exact relation is developed between the thermal expansion coefficient and the bulk modulus of statistically isotropic polycrystalline aggregates composed of crystals of hexagonal, tetragonal or trigonal symmetry. This relation is exploited to derive simple close bounds for the thermal expansion coefficient in terms of single crystal properties. Comparison of bounds to experimentally obtained expansion coefficients shows fair to very good agreement.     

Rigorous bounds on the effective moduli of composites and inhomogeneous bodies with negative-stiffness phases

We review the theoretical bounds on the effective properties of linear elastic inhomogeneous solids (including composite materials) in the presence of constituents having non-positive-definite elastic moduli (so-called negative-stiffness phases). Using arguments of Hill and Koiter, we show that for statically stable bodies the classical displacement-based variational principles for Dirichlet and Neumann boundary problems hold but that the dual variational principle for traction boundary problems does not apply. We illustrate our findings by the example of a coated spherical inclusion whose stability conditions are obtained from the variational principles. We further show that the classical Voigt upper bound on the linear elastic moduli in multi-phase inhomogeneous bodies and composites applies and that it imposes a stability condition: overall stability requires that the effective moduli do not surpass the Voigt upper bound. This particularly implies that, while the geometric constraints among constituents in a composite can stabilize negative-stiffness phases, the stabilization is insufficient to allow for extreme overall static elastic moduli (exceeding those of the constituents). Stronger bounds on the effective elastic moduli of isotropic composites can be obtained from the Hashin–Shtrikman variational inequalities, which are also shown to hold in the presence of negative stiffness.     

On Isotropic Invariants of the Elasticity Tensor

Isotropic invariants of the elasticity tensor always yield the same values no matter what coordinate system is concerned and therefore they characterize the linear elasticity of a solid material intrinsically. There exists a finite set of invariants of the elasticity tensor such that each invariant of the elasticity tensor can be expressed as a single-valued function of this set. Such a set, called a basis of invariants of the elasticity tensor, can be used to realize a parametrization of the manifold of orbits of elastic moduli, i.e. to distinguish different kinds of linear elastic materials. Seeking such a basis is an old problem in theory of invariants and seems to have been unsuccessful until now. In this paper, by means of the unique spectral decomposition of the elasticity tensor every invariant of the elasticity tensor is shown to be a joint invariant of the eigenprojections of the elasticity tensor, and then by utilizing some properties of the eigenprojections a basis for each case concerning the multiplicity of the eigenvalues of the elasticity tensor is presented in terms of joint invariants of the eigenprojections. In addition to the foregoing properties, the presented invariants may also be used to form invariant criteria for identification of elastic symmetry axes.     

End Effects in Anti-plane Shear for an Inhomogeneous Isotropic Linearly Elastic Semi-infinite Strip

The purpose of this research is to further investigate the effects of material inhomogeneity on the decay of Saint-Venant end effects in linear isotropic elasticity. This is carried out within the context of anti-plane shear deformations of an inhomogeneous isotropic elastic solid. The mathematical issues involve the effects of spatial inhomogeneity on the decay rates of solutions to Dirichlet or Neumann boundary-value problems for a second-order linear elliptic partial differential equation with variable coefficients on a semi-infinite strip. In previous work [1], the elastic coefficients were assumed to be smooth functions of the transverse coordinate so that the material was inhomogeneous in the lateral direction only. Here we develop a new technique, based on a change of variable, to study generally inhomogeneous isotropic materials. The governing partial differential equation is transformed to a Helmholtz equation with a variable coefficient, which facilitates analysis of the influence of material inhomogeneity on the diffusion of end effects. For certain classes of inhomogeneous materials, an explicit optimal decay estimate is established. The results of this paper are applicable to continuously inhomogeneous materials and, in particular, to functionally graded materials. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.