On tensile instabilities and ellipticity loss in fiber-reinforced incompressible non-linearly elastic solids

Loss of ellipticity and associated failure in fiber-reinforced non-linearly elastic solids is examined for uniaxial plane deformations. We consider separately fiber reinforcement that either endows the material with additional stiffness only in the fiber direction or introduces additional stiffness under shear deformations. In the first case it is shown that loss of ellipticity under tensile loading in the fiber direction corresponds to a turning point of the nominal stress and requires concavity of the Cauchy stress–stretch curve. For the second example loss of ellipticity occurs after the nominal stress maximum and prior to a turning point of the Cauchy stress.     

Mechanical response of fiber-reinforced incompressible non-linearly elastic solids

The mechanical response of some fiber-reinforced incompressible non-linearly elastic solids is examined under homogeneous deformation. In particular, the materials under consideration are neo-Hookean models augmented with a function that accounts for the existence of a unidirectional reinforcement. This function endows the material with its anisotropic character and is referred to as a reinforcing model. The nature of the anisotropy considered has a particular influence on the shear response of the material, in contrast to previous analyses in which the reinforcing model was taken to depend only on the stretch in the fiber direction.     

Dynamic crack tip fields and dynamic crack propagation characteristics of anisotropic material

Based on mechanics of anisotropic material, the dynamic crack propagation problem of I/II mixed mode crack in an infinite anisotropic body is investigated. Expressions of dynamic stress intensity factors for modes I and II crack are obtained. Components of dynamic stress and dynamic displacements around the crack tip are derived. The strain energy density theory is used to predict the dynamic crack extension angle. The critical strain energy density is determined by the strength parameters of anisotropic materials. The obtained dynamic crack tip fields are unified and applicable to the analysis of the crack tip fields of anisotropic material, orthotropic material and isotropic material under dynamic or static load. The obtained results show Crack propagation characteristics are represented by the mechanical properties of anisotropic material, i.e., crack propagation velocity M and fiber direction α. In particular, the fiber direction α and the crack propagation velocity M give greater influence on the variations of the stress fields and displacement fields. Fracture angle is found to depend not only on the crack propagation but also on the anisotropic character of the material.     

A new constitutive theory for fiber-reinforced incompressible nonlinearly elastic solids

We consider an incompressible nonlinearly elastic material in which a matrix is reinforced by strong fibers, for example fibers of nylon or carbon aligned in one family of curves in a rubber matrix. Rather than adopting the constraint of fiber inextensibility as has been previously assumed in the literature, here we develop a theory of fiber-reinforced materials based on the less restrictive idea of limiting fiber extensibility. The motivation for such an approach is provided by recent research on limiting chain extensibility models for rubber. Thus the basic idea of the present paper is simple: we adapt the limiting chain extensibility concept to limiting fiber extensibility so that the usual inextensibility constraint traditionally used is replaced by a unilateral constraint. We use a strain-energy density composed with two terms, the first being associated with the isotropic matrix or base material and the second reflecting the transversely isotropic character of the material due to the uniaxial reinforcement introduced by the fibers. We consider a base neo-Hookean model plus a special term that takes into account the limiting extensibility in the fiber direction. Thus our model introduces an additional parameter, namely that associated with limiting extensibility in the fiber direction, over previously investigated models. The aim of this paper is to investigate the mathematical and mechanical feasibility of this new model and to examine the role played by the extensibility parameter. We examine the response of the proposed models in some basic homogeneous deformations and compare this response to those of standard models for fiber reinforced rubber materials. The role of the strain-stiffening of the fibers in the new models is examined. The enhanced stability of the new models is then illustrated by investigation of cavitation instabilities. One of the motivations for the work is to apply the model to the biomechanics of soft tissues and the potential merits of the proposed models for this purpose are briefly discussed.     

Onset of failure in finitely strained layered composites subjected to combined normal and shear loading

A limiting factor in the design of fiber-reinforced composites is their failure under axial compression along the fiber direction. These critical axial stresses are significantly reduced in the presence of shear stresses. This investigation is motivated by the desire to study the onset of failure in fiber-reinforced composites under arbitrary multi-axial loading and in the absence of the experimentally inevitable imperfections and finite boundaries.By using a finite strain continuum mechanics formulation for the bifurcation (buckling) problem of a rate-independent, perfectly periodic (layered) solid of infinite extent, we are able to study the influence of load orientation, material properties and fiber volume fraction on the onset of instability in fiber-reinforced composites. Two applications of the general theory are presented in detail, one for a finitely strained elastic rubber composite and another for a graphite-epoxy composite, whose constitutive properties have been determined experimentally. For the latter case, extensive comparisons are made between the predictions of our general theory and the available experimental results as well as to the existing approximate structural theories. It is found that the load orientation, material properties and fiber volume fraction have substantial effects on the onset of failure stresses as well as on the type of the corresponding mode (local or global).     

A note on the pure torsion of a circular cylinder for a compressible nonlinearly elastic material with nonconvex strain-energy

The large deformation torsion problem for an elastic circular cylinder subject to prescribed twisting moments at its ends is examined for a particular homogeneous isotropic compressible material, namely the Blatz-Ko material. For this material, the displacement equations of equilibrium in three-dimensional elastostatics can lose ellipticity at sufficiently large deformations. For the torsion problem, it is shown that this occurs when the prescribed torque reaches a critical value. For values of the twisting moment greater than this critical value, there is an axial core of the cylinder on which ellipticity holds, surrounded by an annular region where loss of ellipticity has occurred. The physical implications in terms of localized shear bands are briefly discussed.     

Kink Surfaces in a Directionally Reinforced neo-Hookean Material under Plane Deformation: I. Mechanical Equilibrium

Stationary kinks (elastostatic shocks) are examined in the context of a base neo-Hookean response augmented with unidirectional reinforcing that is characterized by a single additional constitutive parameter for the additional fiber reinforcing stiffness. Previous work has shown that such a transversely isotropic material can lose ellipticity in plane deformation if the reinforcing is sufficiently large and the fiber direction is sufficiently compressed. Here we show that the same reinforcing levels can give rise to piecewise smooth plane deformations separated by a plane stationary kink. Attention is restricted to deformations in which, on one side of the kink, the load axis is aligned with the fiber axis. Then the fiber stretch on this side of the kink is a natural load parameter. It is found that such a deformation can support a planar kink for a certain range of this load parameter. This range is dependent on the reinforcing parameter, and can even involve fiber extension if the reinforcing is sufficiently large. The set of all deformation states on the other side of the kink is precisely characterized in terms of a one-parameter family of (kink orientation, kink strength)-pairs. The results are interpreted in terms of the associated fiber alignment discontinuity and fiber stretch discontinuity.     

Instabilities in multilayered soft dielectrics

Experimental observations clearly show that the performance of dielectric elastomeric-based devices can be considerably improved using composite materials. A critical issue in the development of composite dielectric materials toward applications is the prediction of their failure mechanisms due to the applied electromechanical loads. In this paper we investigate analytically the influence of electromechanical finite deformations on the stability of multilayered soft dielectrics under plane-strain conditions. Four different criteria are considered: (i) loss of positive definiteness of the tangent electroelastic constitutive operator, (ii) existence of diffuse modes of bifurcation (microscopic modes), (iii) loss of strong ellipticity of the homogenized continuum (localized or macroscopic modes), and (iv) electric breakdown. While the formulation is developed for generic isotropic hyperelastic dielectrics, results are presented for the special class of ideal dielectrics incorporating a neo-Hookean elastic response. The effect of material properties and loading conditions is investigated, providing a detailed picture of the different possible failure modes.     

Onset of macroscopic instabilities in fiber-reinforced elastomers at finite strain

In this paper, we investigate theoretically the possible development of instabilities in fiber-reinforced elastomers (and other soft materials) when they are subjected to finite-strain loading conditions. We focus on the physically relevant class of “macroscopic” instabilities, i.e., instabilities with wavelengths that are much larger than the characteristic size of the underlying microstructure. To this end, we make use of recently developed homogenization estimates, together with a fundamental result of Geymonat, Müller and Triantafyllidis linking the development of these instabilities to the loss of strong ellipticity of the homogenized constitutive relations. For the important class of material systems with very stiff fibers and random microstructures, we derive a closed-form formula for the critical macroscopic deformation at which instabilities may develop under general loading conditions, and we show that this critical deformation is quite sensitive to the loading orientation relative to the fiber direction. The result is also confronted with classical estimates (including those of Rosen) for laminates, which have commonly been used as two-dimensional (2-D) approximations for actual fiber-reinforced composites. We find that while predictions based on laminate models are qualitatively correct for certain loadings, they can be significantly off for other more general 3-D loadings. Finally, we provide a parametric analysis of the effects of the matrix and fiber properties and of the fiber volume fraction on the onset of instabilities for various loading conditions.     

Compressive response and failure of balsa wood

Balsa wood is a natural cellular material with excellent stiffness-to-weight and strength-to-weight ratios as well as superior energy absorption characteristics. These properties are derived from the microstructure, which consists of long slender cells (tracheids) with approximately hexagonal crosssections that are arranged axially. Parenchyma are a second type of cells that are radially arranged in groups that periodically penetrate the tracheids (rays). Under compression in the axial direction the material exhibits a linearly elastic regime that terminates by the initiation of failure in the form of localized kinking. Subsequently, under displacement-controlled compression, a stress plateau is traced associated with the gradual spreading of crushing of the cells through the material. The material is less stiff and weaker in the tangential and radial directions. Compression in these directions crushes the tracheids laterally but results in a monotonically increasing response typical of lateral crushing of elastic honeycombs. The elastic and inelastic properties in the three directions have been established experimentally as a function of the wood density. The microstructure and its deformation modes under compression have been characterized using scanning electron microscopy. In the axial direction it was observed that in the majority of the tests, failure initiated by kinking in the axial–tangential plane. The local misalignment of tracheids in zones penetrated by rays ranged from 4° to 10° and axial compression results in shear in these zones. Measurement of the shear response and the shear strength in the planes of interest enabled estimation of the kinking stress using the Argon–Budiansky kinking model. The material strength predicted in this manner has been found to provide a bounding estimate of the axial strength for a broad range of wood densities. The energy absorption characteristics of the wood have also been measured and the specific energy absorption was found to be comparable to that of metallic honeycombs of the same relative density.     

On thermodynamically consistent constitutive equations for fiber-reinforced nonlinearly viscoelastic solids with application to biomechanics

In this paper, we are interested in developing thermodynamically consistent constitutive equations for fiber-reinforced nonlinearly viscoelastic bodies, in particular for transversely isotropic nonlinearly viscoelastic solids, in isothermal processes. It follows from results in the theory of algebraic invariants that constitutive equations for such materials can be expressed in terms of functions of 18 independent invariants associated with deformation and fiber orientation: 10 of them are isotropic invariants and 8 of them are associated with the deformation and the orientation of the fiber. Among the 8 anisotropic invariants just 6 are related to the viscoelastic response. The terms in the Cauchy stress tensor associated to these 6 invariants are analyzed with respect to thermodynamical consistency, and we obtain restrictions for the corresponding constitutive coefficients. This framework is applied to viscoelastic potentials within the context of biomaterials.     

Stress in elastic plates reinforced by fibres lying in concentric circles

We Consider fibre-reinforced elastic plates with the reinforcement continuously distributed in concentric circles ; such a material is locally transversely isotropic, with the circumferential direction as the preferred direction. For an annulus bounded by concentric circles, the exact solution of the traction boundary value problem is obtained. When the extension modulus in the fibre direction is large compared to other extension and shear moduli, the material is strongly anisotropic. For this case a simpler approximate solution is obtained by treating the material as inextensible in the fibre direction. It is shown that the exact solution reduces to the inextensible solution in the appropriate limit. The inextensible theory predicts the occurrence of stress concentration layers in which the direct stress is infinite ; for materials with small but finite extensibility these layers correspond to thin regions of high stress and high stress gradient. A boundary layer theory is developed for these regions. For a typical carbon fibre-resin composite, the combined boundary layer and inextensible solutions give an excellent approximation to the exact solution. The theory is applied to the problem of an isotropic plate, under uniform stress at infinity, containing a circular hole which is strengthened by the addition of an annulus of fibre-reinforced material.     

Local and global universal relations for first-gradient materials

Local universal relations are relations between stress and kinematic variables which hold for all materials of a particular class irrespective of specific material parameters. A method is developed for obtaining local universal relations for most first gradient materials. The currently known local universal relations for isotropic elastic materials have been extended to all isotropic first gradient materials under constant step deformation histories and have also been extended to all isotropic first gradient materials undergoing arbitrary time dependent triaxial extensions along fixed material directions. It has been shown that universal relations exist for some anisotropic materials. A set of pseudo-universal relations has been obtained for anisotropic elastic materials which can be used to decouple the material functions. These pseudo-universal relations contain some, but not all, material functions. A global universal relation has been developed for the extension and torsion of an isotropic cylindrical shaft which holds for all incompressible first gradient materials.     

Some recent developments in elastic waves in solids

Three topics on recent developments in elastic waves which are of special interest to researchers in experimental mechanics are discussed. They are: (1) the elastic waves in anisotropic media with particular reference to waves in fiber-reinforced composite materials; (2) the coupled thermoelastic waves in isotropic or anisotropic media; and (3) the interaction of elastic waves with magnetic fields in nonferrous metals, polycrystalline ferromagnetic alloys and saturated ferrimagnetic crystals.     

Effects of material anisotropy and inhomogeneity on cavitation for composite incompressible anisotropic nonlinearly elastic spheres

The effects of material anisotropy and inhomogeneity on void nucleation and growth in incompressible anisotropic nonlinearly elastic solids are examined. A bifurcation problem is considered for a composite sphere composed of two arbitrary homogeneous incompressible nonlinearly elastic materials which are transversely isotropic about the radial direction, and perfectly bonded across a spherical interface. Under a uniform radial tensile dead-load, a branch of radially symmetric configurations involving a traction-free internal cavity bifurcates from the undeformed configuration at sufficiently large loads. Several types of bifurcation are found to occur. Explicit conditions determining the type of bifurcation are established for the general transversely isotropic composite sphere. In particular, if each phase is described by an explicit material model which may be viewed as a generalization of the classic neo-Hookean model to anisotropic materials, phenomena which were not observed for the homogeneous anisotropic sphere nor for the composite neo-Hookean sphere may occur. The stress distribution as well as the possible role of cavitation in preventing interface debonding are also examined for the general composite sphere.     

Finite extension and torsion of fiber-reinforced non-linearly elastic circular cylinders

In the context of the theory of non-linear elasticity for rubber-like materials, the problem of finite extension and torsion of a circular bar or tube has been widely investigated. More recently, this problem has attracted considerable attention in studies on the biomechanics of soft tissues and has been applied, for example, to examine the mechanical behavior of passive papillary muscles of the heart. A recent study in non-linear elasticity was concerned specifically with the effects of strain-stiffening on the response of solid circular cylinders in the combined deformation of torsion superimposed on axial extension. The cylinders are composed of incompressible isotropic non-linearly elastic materials that undergo severe strain-stiffening in the stress–stretch response. For two specific material models that reflect limiting chain extensibility at the molecular level, it was shown that, in the absence of an additional axial force, a transition value γ=γ_t of the axial stretch exists such that for γ<γ_t, the stretched cylinder tends to elongate on twisting whereas for γ>γ_t, the stretched cylinder tends to shorten on twisting. These results are in sharp contrast with those for classical models for rubber such as the Mooney–Rivlin (and neo-Hookean) models that predict that the stretched circular cylinder always tends to further elongate on twisting. Here we investigate similar issues for fiber-reinforced transversely isotropic circular cylinders. We consider a class of incompressible anisotropic materials with strain-energy densities that are of logarithmic form in the anisotropic invariant. These models reflect limited fiber extensibility and in the biomechanics context model the stretch induced strain-stiffening of collagen fibers on loading. They have been shown to model the mechanical behavior of fiber-reinforced rubber and many fibrous soft biological tissues. The consideration of anisotropy leads to a more elaborate mechanical response than was found for isotropic strain-stiffening materials. The results obtained here have important implications for extension–torsion tests for fiber-reinforced materials, for example in the development of accurate extension–torsion test protocols for determination of material properties of soft tissues.     

Evaluation of the effective elastic moduli of tetragonal fiber-reinforced composites based on Maxwell’s concept of equivalent inhomogeneity

Maxwell’s concept of an equivalent inhomogeneity is employed for evaluating the effective elastic properties of tetragonal, fiber-reinforced, unidirectional composites with isotropic phases. The microstructure induced anisotropic effective elastic properties of the material are obtained by comparing the far-field solutions for the problem of a finite cluster of isotropic, circular cylindrical fibers embedded in an infinite isotropic matrix with that for the problem of a single, tetragonal, circular cylindrical equivalent inhomogeneity embedded in the same isotropic matrix. The former solutions precisely account for the interactions between all fibers in the cluster and for their geometrical arrangement. The solutions to several example problems that involve periodic (square arrays) composites demonstrate that the approach adequately captures microstructure induced anisotropy of the materials and provides reasonably accurate estimates of their effective elastic properties.     

Kink Surfaces in a Directionally Reinforced neo-Hookean Material under Plane Deformation: II. Kink Band Stability and Maximally Dissipative Band Broadening

Stationary kinks (elastostatic shocks) are examined in the context of a base neo-Hookean response augmented with unidirectional reinforcing that is characterized by a single additional constitutive parameter for the additional fiber reinforcing stiffness. Previous work has shown that such a transversely isotropic material can support stationary kinks in plane deformation if the reinforcing is sufficiently great. If the deformation on one side of the kink involves a load axis aligned with the fiber axis, then the more general plane deformation on the other side of the kink is characterized in terms of a one-parameter family of (kink orientation, kink strength)-pairs. Here, the ellipticity status of the two correlated deformation states is shown to span all four possible ellipticity/nonellipticity permutations. If both deformation states are elliptic, then a suitable intermediate deformation is shown to be nonelliptic. Maximally dissipative quasi-static kink motion is examined and interpreted in terms of kink band broadening in on-axis loading. Such maximally dissipative kinks nucleate only in compression as weak kinks, with subsequent motion converting nonelliptic deformation to elliptic deformation. The associated fiber rotation involves three periods: an initial period of slow rotation, a secondary period of rapid rotation, and a final period of essentially constant orienation.     

A theory of pulse propagation in anisotropic elastic solids

A theory is described for the propagation of pulses in anisotropic elastic media. The pulse is initially defined by a harmonically modulated Gaussian envelope. As it propagates the pulse remains Gaussian, its spatial form characterized by a complex-valued envelope tensor. The center of the pulse follows the ray path defined by the initial velocity direction of the pulse. Relatively simple expressions are presented for the evolution of the amplitude and phase of the pulse in terms of the wave velocity, the phase slowness and unit displacement vectors. The spreading of the pulse is characterized by a spreading matrix. Explicit equations are given for this matrix in a transversely isotropic material. The rate of spreading can vary considerably, depending upon the direction of propagation. New reflected and transmitted pulses are created when a pulse strikes an interface of material discontinuity. Relations are given for the new envelope tensors in terms of the incident pulse parameters. The theory provides a convenient method to describe the evolution and change of shape of an ultrasonic pulse as it traverses a piecewise homogeneous solid. Numerical simulations are presented for pulses in a strongly anisotropic fiber reinforced composite.     

Remarks on cavity formation in fiber-reinforced incompressible non-linearly elastic solids

In this paper we focus on cavity formation in fiber-reinforced incompressible non-linearly elastic solids. In particular, the material under consideration is a base neo-Hookean augmented by a function that accounts for the existence of a unidirectional reinforcing. This function characterizes the anisotropy of the material and is referred to as reinforcing model. Previous works has dealt with the analysis of a specific reinforcing model, the so called standard reinforcing model, that is a quadratic function that depends only on the fiber reinforcement stretch. Here, two different reinforcing models are examined: a power law that depends only on the fiber stretch and a quadratic function that depends simultaneously on the fiber stretch and fiber shearing. Closed form analytic solutions are found for the classical problem of cavity formation in a sphere under uniform radial tensile dead-load with the fiber in the radial direction. It is shown that for some of the new reinforcing models under study the cavitation instabilities obtained in previous works for the standard reinforcing model are not possible.