Elements of a finite strain-gradient thermomechanical theory for material growth and remodeling

A second-gradient theory in finite strains is proposed to deal with the phenomena of material growth and remodeling, as happens in biomechanics, on account of mass transport and morphogenetic species. It involves first-order and second-order transplants (local structural rearrangements) and two material connections on the material manifold. It is shown that the evolution of these structural changes or “material inhomogeneities” is governed by Eshelby-like stress and hyperstress tensors. A thermodynamically admissible set of constitutive equations is proposed. The complexity due to the finite-strain gradient theory is a necessity in order to accommodate mass exchanges and diffusion of species.     

A finite deformation second gradient theory of plasticity

Extending the previous work by Chambon et al. [2] to the finite deformation regime, a local second gradient theory of plasticity for isotropic materials with microstructure is developed based on the multiplicative decomposition of the deformation gradient, the additive decomposition of the second deformation gradient and the principle of maximum dissipation.     

A mixture theory for evaluating heat and mass transport processes in nonhomogeneous snow

A multiphase mixture theory is developed and then utilized to study heat and mass transport processes in layered snow cover. The material is represented as a granular ice phase and a vapor phase which occupies the pore space. The theory is then implemented to study the process of temperature gradient metamorphism in dry seasonal snow cover and the effect of density layering on metamorphism of snow. Calculated results were found to be consistent with field observations of temperature gradient and density layering effects. The theory demonstrates that sharp variations in density induce a migration of vapor from the lower density snow toward the more dense layer, resulting in a gradual erosion of density of layers adjacent to dense snow. It is also shown that alteration in vapor density and temperature near the layer interface result.     

A second gradient material resulting from the homogenization of an heterogeneous linear elastic medium

Homogenization may change fundamentally the constitutive laws of materials. We show how a heterogeneous Cauchy continuum may lead to a non Cauchy continuum. We study the effective properties of a linear elastic medium reinforced periodically with thin parallel fibers made up of a much stronger linear elastic medium and we prove that, when the Lamé coefficients in the fibers and the radius of the fibers have appropriate order of magnitude, the effective material is a second gradient material, i.e. a material whose energy depends on the second gradient of the displacement.     

A second gradient elastoplastic cohesive-frictional model for geomaterials

Starting from some experimental observations on shear strength of stiff clays [3,2], a isotropic, geometrically non-linear second gradient elastoplastic model is proposed for pressure dependent, brittle geomaterials. The development of the model follows the general theory presented in [1]. Due to the internal length scale provided by the microstructure, the model is ideally suited for the analysis of failure problems in which strain localization into shear band occurs, see, e.g., [4,5].     

A simplified second gradient model for dilatant materials: Theory and numerical implementation

This paper deals with the development of a new second gradient model, its numerical implementation and its validation. In order to remedy to the spurious mesh dependency of the post localized computation enhanced models incorporating some internal length are necessary. These models are very time consuming. In this paper we present a simplified theory within the framework of constrained micromorphic models involving only the micro volumetric strain. Provided the use of an additional penalty term in the numerical treatment, this model is quite efficient to regularize problems modelling behaviors exhibiting plastic volumetric strain such as the ones of geomaterials. More over this model is notably less time consuming than the more general ones.     

A second order constitutive theory for hyperelastic materials

The second order constitutive equation for a hyperelastic material with arbitrary symmetry is derived. In developing a second order theory, it is necessary to be discriminating in the choice of measures of deformation. Here the derivation is done in terms of the Biot strain, which has a direct physical interpretation in that its eigenvalues are the principal extensions of the deformation. The constitutive equation is specialized for the cases of isotropy and transverse isotropy. The isotropic equation derived here is compared with equations obtained by other authors in terms of the displacement gradient and the Green strain.     

Micromechanics based second gradient continuum theory for shear band modeling in cohesive granular materials following damage elasticity

Gradient theories, as a regularized continuum mechanics approach, have found wide applications for modeling strain localization failure process. This paper presents a second gradient stress–strain damage elasticity theory based upon the method of virtual power. The theory considers the strain gradient and its conjugated double stresses. Instead of introducing an intrinsic material length scale into the constitutive law in an ad hoc fashion, a microstructural granular mechanics approach is applied to derive the higher-order constitutive coefficients such that the internal length scale parameter reflects the natural granularity of the underlying material microstructure. The derivations of the required damage constitutive relationships, the strong form governing equations as well as its weak form for the second gradient model are described. The recently popularized Element-Free Galerkin (EFG) method is then employed to discretize the weak form equilibrium equation for accommodating the resultant higher-order continuity requirements and further handling the mesh sensitivity problem. Numerical examples for shear band simulations show that the proposed second gradient continuum model can produce stable, accurate as well as mesh-size independent solutions without a priori assumption of the shear band path.     

A nonlocal strain gradient plasticity theory for finite deformations

Strain gradient plasticity for finite deformations is addressed within the framework of nonlocal continuum thermodynamics, featured by the concepts of (nonlocality) energy residual and globally simple material. The plastic strain gradient is assumed to be physically meaningful in the domain of particle isoclinic configurations (with the director vector triad constant both in space and time), whereas the objective notion of corotational gradient makes it possible to compute the plastic strain gradient in any domain of particle intermediate configurations. A phenomenological elastic–plastic constitutive model is presented, with mixed kinematic/isotropic hardening laws in the form of PDEs and related higher order boundary conditions (including those associated with the moving elastic/plastic boundary). Two fourth-order projection tensor operators, functions of the elastic and plastic strain states, are shown to relate the skew-symmetric parts of the Mandel stress and back stress to the related symmetric parts. Consistent with the thermodynamic restrictions therein derived, the flow laws for rate-independent associative plasticity are formulated in a six-dimensional tensor space in terms of symmetric parts of Mandel stresses and related work-conjugate generalized plastic strain rates. A simple shear problem application is presented for illustrative purposes.     

A second gradient theoretical framework for hierarchical multiscale modeling of materials

A theoretical framework for the hierarchical multiscale modeling of inelastic response of heterogeneous materials is presented. Within this multiscale framework, the second gradient is used as a nonlocal kinematic link between the response of a material point at the coarse scale and the response of a neighborhood of material points at the fine scale. Kinematic consistency between these scales results in specific requirements for constraints on the fluctuation field. The wryness tensor serves as a second-order measure of strain. The nature of the second-order strain induces anti-symmetry in the first-order stress at the coarse scale. The multiscale internal state variable (ISV) constitutive theory is couched in the coarse scale intermediate configuration, from which an important new concept in scale transitions emerges, namely scale invariance of dissipation. Finally, a strategy for developing meaningful kinematic ISVs and the proper free energy functions and evolution kinetics is presented.     

A gradient elasticity theory for second-grade materials and higher order inertia

Second-grade elastic materials featured by a free energy depending on the strain and the strain gradient, and a kinetic energy depending on the velocity and the velocity gradient, are addressed. An inertial energy balance principle and a virtual work principle for inertial actions are envisioned to enrich the set of traditional theoretical tools of thermodynamics and continuum mechanics. The state variables include the body momentum and the surface momentum, related to the velocity in a nonstandard way, as well as the concomitant mass-accelerations and inertial forces, which do intervene into the motion equations and into the force boundary conditions. The boundary traction is the sum of two parts, i.e. the Cauchy traction and the Gurtin–Murdoch traction, whereas the traction boundary condition exhibits the typical format of the equilibrium equation of a material surface (as known from the principles of surface mechanics) whereby the Gurtin–Murdoch traction (incorporating the inertial surface force) plays the role of applied surfacial force density. The body’s boundary surface constitutes a thin boundary layer which is in global equilibrium under all the external forces applied on it, a feature that makes it possible to exploit the traction Cauchy theorem within second-grade materials. This means that a second-grade material is formed up by two sub-systems, that is, the bulk material operating as a classical Cauchy continuum, and the thin boundary layer operating as a Gurtin–Murdoch material surface. The classical linear and angular momentum theorems are suitably extended for higher order inertia, from which the local motion equations and the moment equilibrium equations (stress symmetry) can be derived. For an isotropic material featured by four constants, i.e. the Lamé constants and two length scale parameters (Aifantis model), the dynamic evolution problem is characterized by a Hamilton-type variational principle and a solution uniqueness theorem. Closed-form solutions of the wave dispersion analysis problem for beam models are presented and compared with known results from the literature. The paper indicates a correct thermodynamically consistent way to take into account higher order inertia effects within continuum mechanics.     

A numerical method for second order thin airfoil theory

Summary In this note a fast Cauchy integral solver and its application to the solution of symmetric incompressible flows, based on a quadratic thin airfoil theory, are presented. The computed velocity near the leading edge has been corrected with the Lighthill rule. Some results relative to airfoils and to cascade are reported.

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Sommario In questa nota si presenta un veloce algoritmo per il calcolo dell’integrale di Cauchy che è stato applicato al calcolo di flussi simmetrici incomprimibili in base ad una teoria quadratica delle piccole perturbazioni. La velocità calcolata nell’intorno del bordo di attacco è stata corretta con la regola di Lighthill. Si presentano alcuni risultati relativi a profili alari isolati ed a schiere di profili.

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Frontiers in growth and remodeling

Unlike common engineering materials, living matter can autonomously respond to environmental changes. Living structures can grow stronger, weaker, larger, or smaller within months, weeks, or days as a result of a continuous microstructural turnover and renewal. Hard tissues can adapt by increasing their density and grow strong. Soft tissues can adapt by increasing their volume and grow large. For more than three decades, the mechanics community has actively contributed to understand the phenomena of growth and remodeling from a mechanistic point of view. However, to date, there is no single, unified characterization of growth, which is equally accepted by all scientists in the field. Here we shed light on the continuum modeling of growth and remodeling of living matter, and give a comprehensive overview of historical developments and trends. We provide a state-of-the-art review of current research highlights, and discuss challenges and potential future directions. Using the example of volumetric growth, we illustrate how we can establish and utilize growth theories to characterize the functional adaptation of soft living matter. We anticipate this review to be the starting point for critical discussions and future research in growth and remodeling, with a potential impact on life science and medicine.     

A thermodynamic based higher-order gradient theory for size dependent plasticity

A physically motivated and thermodynamically consistent formulation of small strain higher-order gradient plasticity theory is presented. Based on dislocation mechanics interpretations, gradients of variables associated with kinematic and isotropic hardenings are introduced. This framework is a two non-local parameter framework that takes into consideration large variations in the plastic strain tensor and large variations in the plasticity history variable; the equivalent (effective) plastic strain. The presence of plastic strain gradients is motivated by the evolution of dislocation density tensor that results from non-vanishing net Burgers vector and, hence, incorporating additional kinematic hardening (anisotropy) effects through lattice incompatibility. The presence of gradients in the effective (scalar) plastic strain is motivated by the accumulation of geometrically necessary dislocations and, hence, incorporating additional isotropic hardening effects (i.e. strengthening). It is demonstrated that the non-local yield condition, flow rule, and non-zero microscopic boundary conditions can be derived directly from the principle of virtual power. It is also shown that the local Clausius–Duhem inequality does not hold for gradient-dependent material and, therefore, a non-local form should be adopted. The non-local Clausius–Duhem inequality has an additional term that results from microstructural long-range energy interchanges between the material points within the body. A detailed discussion on the physics and the application of proper microscopic boundary conditions, either on free surfaces, clamped surfaces, or intermediate constrained surfaces, is presented. It is shown that there is a close connection between interface/surface energy of an interface or free surface and the microscopic boundary conditions in terms of microtraction stresses. Some generalities and utility of this theory are discussed and comparisons with other gradient theories are given. Applications of the proposed theory for size effects in thin films are presented.     

A thermodynamical gradient theory for deformation and strain localization of porous media

In this work, a thermodynamically consistent gradient formulation for partially saturated cohesive-frictional porous media is proposed. The constitutive model includes a classical or local hardening law and a softening formulation with state parameters of non-local character based on gradient theory. Internal characteristic length in softening regime accounts for the strong shear band width sensitivity of partially saturated porous media regarding both governing stress state and hydraulic conditions. In this way the variation of the transition point (TP) of brittle-ductile failure mode can be realistically described depending on current confinement condition and saturation level. After describing the thermodynamically consistent gradient theory the paper focuses on its extension to the case of partially saturated porous media and, moreover, on the formulation of the gradient-based characteristic length in terms of stress and hydraulic conditions. Then the localization indicator for discontinuous bifurcation is formulated for both drained and undrained conditions.     

A displacement-based reference frame formulation for steady-state thermo-elasto-plastic material processes

A reference frame formulation for steady state thermo-elasto-plastic processes is presented. The displacement and history dependent response fields appear as the primary variables in this mixed formulation. Unlike displacement based Lagrangian formulations, our formulation does not require a transient analysis to simulate a steady state process and yields results that are free of numerical oscillations and which require considerably less computational effort. And unlike velocity based Eulerian methods, our formulation does not require free surface corrections or streamline integration algorithms. A laser surface treatment process is simulated and our results are in agreement with those obtained from a computationally intensive transient Lagrangian analysis.     

A theory for freezing of electron processes in lowtemperature plasma jets

The question of finding the asymptotic values of the relative election concentrations obtained when the gas temperature and pressure along the streamliner are reduced naturally arises in a number of problems in ionized-gas dynamics. An example of such a problem is that of the flow of a low-temperature plasma in a divergent nozzle. In this case, the velocities of all elementary processes approach zero in proportion to distance from the critical section of the nozzle, due to the marked temperature and pressure drops in the nozzle. Hence, it follows that the relative electron concentration must approach some constant value, which is called the frozen concentration. The study of these processes is of great importance as applied to rocket-engine nozzles [1] and magnetohydrodynamic equipment.