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.     

Mindlin second-gradient elastic properties from dilute two-phase Cauchy-elastic composites Part II: Higher-order constitutive properties and application cases

Starting from a Cauchy elastic composite with a dilute suspension of randomly distributed inclusions and characterized at first-order by a certain discrepancy tensor (see part I of the present article), it is shown that the equivalent second-gradient Mindlin elastic solid: (i) is positive definite only when the discrepancy tensor is negative defined; (ii) the non-local material symmetries are the same of the discrepancy tensor, and (iii) the non-local effective behaviour is affected by the shape of the RVE, which does not influence the first-order homogenized response. Furthermore, explicit derivations of non-local parameters from heterogeneous Cauchy elastic composites are obtained in the particular cases of: (a) circular cylindrical and spherical isotropic inclusions embedded in an isotropic matrix, (b) n-polygonal cylindrical voids in an isotropic matrix, and (c) circular cylindrical voids in an orthotropic matrix.     

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.     

非饱和颗粒材料的多孔连续体有效压力与有效广义Biot应力

多孔连续体理论框架下的非饱和多孔介质广义有效压力定义和Bishop参数的定量表达式长期以来存在争议,这也影响了对与其直接相关联的非饱和多孔介质广义Biot有效应力的正确预测.基于随时间演变的离散固体颗粒-双联液桥-液膜体系描述的Voronoi胞元模型,利用由模型获得的非饱和颗粒材料表征元中水力-力学介观结构和响应信息,文章定义了低饱和度多孔介质局部材料点的有效内状态变量:非饱和多孔连续体的广义Biot有效应力和有效压力,导出了其表达式.所导出的有效压力公式表明,非饱和多孔连续体的有效压力张量为各向异性,它不仅对非饱和多孔连续体广义Biot有效应力张量的静水应力分量的影响呈各向异性,同时也对其剪切应力分量有影响.文章表明,非饱和多孔连续体中提出的广义Biot理论和双变量理论的基本缺陷在于它们均假定反映非混和两相孔隙流体对固相骨架水力-力学效应的有效压力张量为各向同性.此外,为定义各向同性有效压力张量和作为加权系数而引入的Bishop参数并不包含对非饱和多孔连续体中局部材料点水力-力学响应具有十分重要效应的基质吸力.所导出的非饱和多孔介质广义Biot有效应力和有效压力公式(包括反映有效压力...     

Dielectric elastomer composites: A general closed-form solution in the small-deformation limit

A solution for the overall electromechanical response of two-phase dielectric elastomer composites with (random or periodic) particulate microstructures is derived in the classical limit of small deformations and moderate electric fields. In this limit, the overall electromechanical response is characterized by three effective tensors: a fourth-order tensor describing the elasticity of the material, a second-order tensor describing its permittivity, and a fourth-order tensor describing its electrostrictive response. Closed-form formulas are derived for these effective tensors directly in terms of the corresponding tensors describing the electromechanical response of the underlying matrix and the particles, and the one- and two-point correlation functions describing the microstructure. This is accomplished by specializing a new iterative homogenization theory in finite electroelastostatics (Lopez-Pamies, 2014) to the case of elastic dielectrics with even coupling between the mechanical and electric fields and, subsequently, carrying out the pertinent asymptotic analysis.Additionally, with the aim of gaining physical insight into the proposed solution and shedding light on recently reported experiments, specific results are examined and compared with an available analytical solution and with new full-field simulations for the special case of dielectric elastomers filled with isotropic distributions of spherical particles with various elastic dielectric properties, including stiff high-permittivity particles, liquid-like high-permittivity particles, and vacuous pores.     

Determination of effective thermomechanical parameters of a mixture of two elastothermoviscoplastic constituents

We analyze plane strain deformations of a representative volume element (RVE) to evaluate effective thermophysical parameters of a particulate composite comprised of two perfectly bonded heat conducting elasto-thermo-visco-plastic constituents. It is assumed that the composite is also isotropic and its response elasto-thermo-visco-plastic. Effective values of material parameters so computed are compared with those obtained from either existing micromechanics models or the rule of mixtures or both. It is found that values computed from the rule of mixtures differ at most by 10% from those obtained by using the RVE. Effective stress versus effective strain curves obtained by analyzing simple shearing and axisymmetric deformations of the RVE and of the homogenized material, and also those obtained in plane strain deformations involving loading/unloading/reloading are found to be very close to each other. Time histories of the effective plastic strain at two neighboring points, one in each constituent, are quite different. The effective stress computed by the rule of mixtures from the average effective stress in each constituent and its volume fraction is very close to that obtained from surface tractions acting on the specimen boundaries. The average effective stress in a constituent is computed from the effective plastic strain averaged over that constituent. This also holds for a composite comprised of three constituents.     

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.     

Homogenization problems of a hollow cylinder made of elastic materials with discontinuous properties

In this paper, we present the homogenization of an anisotropic hollow layered tube with discontinuous elastic coefficients. We focus on some aspects of technological importance, such as the effective coefficients of anisotropic materials, the behavior of the homogenized displacements and stresses, the discontinuities of in-plane shear, hoop and longitudinal stresses, the homogenization-induced anisotropy in the isotropic case. We conclude that the problem of cylindrically anisotropic tubes under extension, torsion, shearing and pressuring is stable by homogenization and we define the effective tensor of the material elastic coefficients. Some numerical examples confirm the theoretical results.     

Homogenization of layered elastoplastic composites: Theoretical results

Exact closed-form solutions are derived that completely characterize the effective behavior of a composite material made of elastic-perfectly plastic parallel plane layers perfectly bonded together. The derivation is framed within a rigorous theory of homogenization for elastoplastic composites, and based on the fundamental fact that the in-plane part of the strain tensor and the out-of-plane part of the stress tensor are uniform throughout the composite provided no free-edge effects occur. The obtained expressions are coordinate-free and valid in the general anisotropic case. As an example, a layered composite material with isotropic constituents is examined in detail.     

A concurrent micromechanical model for predicting nonlinear viscoelastic responses of composites reinforced with solid spherical particles

A concurrent micromechanical model for predicting nonlinear viscoelastic responses of particle reinforced polymers is developed. Particles are in the form of solid spheres having micro-scale diameters. The composite microstructures are idealized by periodically distributed cubic particles in a matrix medium. Each particle is assumed to be fully surrounded by polymeric matrix such that contact between particles can be avoided. A representative volume element (RVE) is then defined by a single particle embedded in the cubic matrix. A spatial periodicity boundary condition is imposed to the RVE. One eighth unit-cell model with four particle and polymer subcells is generated due to the three-plane symmetry of the RVE. The solid spherical particle is modeled as a linear elastic material. The polymeric matrix follows nonlinear viscoelastic behaviors of thermorheologically simple materials. The homogenized micromechanical relation is developed in terms of the average strains and stresses in the subcells and traction continuity and displacement compatibility at the subcells’ interfaces are imposed. A stress–strain correction scheme is also formulated to satisfy the linearized micromechanical and the nonlinear constitutive relations. The micromechanical model provides three-dimensional (3D) effective properties of homogeneous composite responses, while recognizing microstructural geometries and in situ material properties of the heterogeneous medium. The micromechanical formulation is designed to be compatible with general displacement based finite element (FE) analyses. Experimental data and analytical micromechanical models available in the literature are used to verify the capability of the above micromechanical model for predicting the overall composite behaviors. The proposed micromodel is also examined in terms of computational efficiency and accuracy.     

Filled elastomers: A theory of filler reinforcement based on hydrodynamic and interphasial effects

Experimental evidence has by now established that (i) the hydrodynamic effect and (ii) the presence of stiff interphases (commonly referred to as bound rubber) “bonding” the underlying elastomer to the fillers are the dominant microscopic mechanisms typically responsible for the enhanced macroscopic stiffness of filled elastomers. Yet, because of the technical difficulties of dealing with these fine-scale effects within the realm of finite deformations, the theoretical reproduction of the macroscopic mechanical response of filled elastomers has remained an open problem.The object of this paper is to put forward a microscopic field theory with the capability to describe, explain, and predict the macroscopic response of filled elastomers under arbitrarily large nonlinear elastic deformations directly in terms of: (i) the nonlinear elastic properties of the elastomeric matrix, (ii) the concentration of filler particles, and (iii) the thickness and stiffness of the surrounding interphases. Attention is restricted to the prominent case of isotropic incompressible elastomers filled with a random and isotropic distribution of comparatively rigid fillers. The central idea of the theory rests on the construction of a homogenization solution for the fundamental problem of a Gaussian elastomer filled with a dilute concentration of rigid spherical particles bonded through Gaussian interphases of constant thickness, and on the extension of this solution to non-Gaussian elastomers filled with finite concentrations of particles and interphases by means of a combination of iterative and variational techniques.For demonstration purposes, the theory is compared with full 3D finite-element simulations of the large-deformation response of Gaussian and non-Gaussian elastomers reinforced by isotropic distributions of rigid spherical particles bonded through interphases of various finite sizes and stiffnesses, as well as with experimental data available from the literature. Good agreement is found in all of these comparisons. The implications of this agreement are discussed.     

基于迭代法的非线性弹性均质化研究

微观结构对复合材料的宏观力学性能具有至关重要的影响, 通过合理设计复合材料微观结构可以得到期望的宏观性能. 均质化方法作为一种有效的设计方法, 它从微观结构的角度出发, 利用均匀化的概念, 实现了对复合材料宏观力学性能的预测和设计. 而当考虑非线性因素, 均质化的实现就非常困难. 本文利用双渐近展开方法, 将位移按照宏观位移和微观位移展开, 推导了非线性弹性均质化方程. 通过直接迭代法, 对非线性弹性均质化方程进行了求解, 并给出了具体的迭代方法和实现步骤. 本文基于迭代步骤和非线性弹性均质化方程编写MATLAB 程序, 对3种典型本构关系的周期性多孔材料平面问题进行了计算, 对比细致模型的应变能、最大位移和等效泊松比, 对程序及迭代方法的准确性进行了验证. 之后对一种三元橡胶基复合材料进行多尺度均质化, 将其分为芯丝尺度和层间尺度. 用线弹性的均质化方法得到了芯丝尺度的等效弹性参数, 并将其作为层间尺度的材料参数. 在层间尺度应用非线性弹性均质化方法对结构进行计算, 得到材料的宏观等效性能, 并以实验结果为基准进行评价.      

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.     

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.     

A micromechanics-based strain gradient damage model for fracture prediction of brittle materials – Part I: Homogenization methodology and constitutive relations

In this paper, we first describe a homogenization methodology with the aim of establishing strain gradient constitutive relations for heterogeneous materials. The methodology presented in this work includes two main steps. The first one is the construction of the average strain-energy density for a well-chosen RVE by using a homogenization technique. The second one is the transformation of the obtained average strain-energy density to that for the continuum. An important characteristic of this method is its self-consistency with respect to the choice of the RVE: the strain gradient constitutive law built by using the present method is independent of the size and the form of the RVE. In the frame of this homogenization procedure, we have constructed a strain gradient constitutive relation for a two-dimensional elastic material with many microcracks by adopting the self-consistent scheme. It was shown that the effective behavior of cracked solids depends not only on the crack density but also on the average crack size with which the strain gradient is associated. The proposed constitutive relation provides a starting point for the development of an evolution law of damage including strain gradient effect, which will be presented in the second part of this work.     

炭黑增强橡胶复合材料力学行为的三维数值模拟

本文基于炭黑填充橡胶复合材料具有周期性细观结构的假设,采用一种新的、改进的随机序列吸附算法建立了三维多球颗粒随机分布式代表性体积单元,并通过细观力学有限元方法对炭黑颗粒填充橡胶复合材料的力学行为进行了模拟仿真。研究结果表明：采用改进的随机序列吸附算法所建立的模型更加便于有限元离散化;模拟中周期性边界条件的约束,使其更加符合实际约束的真实情况;炭黑填充橡胶复合材料的有效模量明显高于未填充橡胶材料,并随着炭黑颗粒所占体积分数的增加而增大;通过比较发现,本文提出的多球颗粒随机分布式三维数值模型对复合材料的应力-应变行为和有效弹性模量的预测结果与实验结果吻合良好,证实了该模型能够用于炭黑颗粒增强橡胶基复合材料有效性能的模拟分析。     

Determination of the effective elastic–plastic response of metal–ceramic composites

The mechanical response of metal–ceramic composites is analysed through a homogenization model accounting for the mechanical behaviour of the constituent materials. In order to achieve this purpose a nonlinear homogenization method based on the phase field approach has been suitably implemented into a numerical code. A prescribed homogenized strain state is applied to a unit volume element of a metal–ceramic composite with proportional loading in which all components of the strain tensor are proportional to one scalar parameter. The mechanical response of the material has been modeled by considering a von Mises plasticity model for the metal phase and a Drucker–Prager associative elastic–plastic material model for the ceramic phase. A two stages plasticity has been obtained in which inelastic strain develops in the metal phase followed by a fully plastic response. A comparison with a finite element model of the stress–strain response of an axisymmetric unit cell has been carried out with the purpose to validate the homogenization based modeling presented in the paper. Plastic parameters of a Drucker–Prager yield surface for the homogenized composite have been calculated at different materials compositions. Associative Drucker–Prager plasticity has been found to be accurate for high ceramic content.     

Material sensitivity analysis in homogenization of linear elastic composites

Summary  The main goal of the paper is to present theoretical aspects and the finite element method (FEM) implementation of the sensitivity analysis in homogenization of composite materials with linear elastic components, using effective modules approach. The deterministic sensitivity analysis of effective material properties is presented in a general form for an n-components periodic composite, and is illustrated by the examples of 1D as well as of 2D heterogeneous structures. The results of the sensitivity analysis presented in the paper confirm the usefulness of the homogenization method in computational analysis of composite materials the method may be applied to computational optimization of engineering composites, to the shape-sensitivity studies and, after some probabilistic extensions, to stochastic sensitivity analysis of random composites. Received 10 November 2000; accepted for publication 24 April 2001     

Assessment of existing and introduction of a new and robust efficient definition of the representative volume element

Accurate numerical homogenization necessitates the thorough determination of the Representative Volume Element (RVE). There exists several seminal works on the notion of the RVE in homogenization, its definitions and methods of determination for efficient computation of composite effective properties. The objective of the current work is to assess the ability of numerical RVE determination methods to deliver accurate effective properties of composite materials. This paper demonstrates that common and well-established RVE determination methods, based on studying the convergence rate of the effective properties with respect to the volume element size, are invalid for the case of composites reinforced by randomly oriented fibers and yield erroneous estimates of their effective properties. Following the failure of traditional RVE determination methods, we proposed a new RVE determination criterion that is not based on the average property stability, but its statistical variations. Our new proposed criterion has been shown to be more accurate than other criteria in computing the effective properties of composites for aspect ratios up to 60. Moreover, the proposed criterion does not necessitate a convergence study over the volume element size, hence reducing considerably the RVE determination cost. Finally, our work questions the validity of many published works dealing with composites including heterogeneities of high aspect ratios.