Micromechanical modeling and computation of elasto-plastic materials reinforced with distributed-orientation fibers

This paper deals with the mean-field homogenization of multiphase elasto-plastic materials reinforced with non-spherical and non-aligned inclusions. Most of the literature on the micro–macro modeling of elasto-plastic composites deals with fixed-orientation fibers but this paper is concerned with cases where the inclusions have a non-uniform orientation defined by an orientation distribution function (ODF). We propose a general two-step incremental formulation and the corresponding numerical algorithms which are able to deal with any rate-independent model for any phase as well as cyclic or otherwise non-proportional loadings. The formulation was implemented in the DIGIMAT (2003) software and the numerical predictions were validated against experimental data for several composite systems.     

Structural morphology and relaxation spectra of viscoelastic heterogeneous materials

We analytically derive the relaxation spectra of a two-phase isotropic material whose phases are isotropic Maxwell media, according to the classical and to the generalized self-consistent schemes. Whereas these spectra are continuous in both cases, they exhibit strong differences which can be associated with the different underlying morphology, either symmetrical (polycrystal-type) in the first case or asymmetrical (composite-type) in the second case. The treatment is extended to the (N+1)-phase model which allows us to deal with coated inclusions or with an interphase between the matrix and the inclusions: the interphase is shown to strongly modify the resultant spectrum. More general cases are then considered for different kinds of constitutive behaviour as well as for coated fibre reinforced composites. As a whole, the spectral analysis method appears to be an efficient tool for the investigation of the connection between structural morphology and the overall behaviour of viscoelastic heterogeneous materials.     

Effective properties of linear viscoelastic heterogeneous media: Internal variables formulation and extension to ageing behaviours

The Laplace–Carson transform classically used for homogenization of linear viscoelastic heterogeneous media yields integral formulations of effective behaviours. These are far less convenient than internal variables formulations with respect to computational aspects as well as to theoretical extensions to closely related problems such as ageing viscoelasticity. Noticing that the collocation method is usually adopted to invert the Laplace–Carson transforms, we first remark that this approximation is equivalent to an internal variables formulation which is exact in some specific situations. This result is illustrated for a two-phase composite with phases obeying a compressible maxwellian behaviour. Next, an incremental formulation allows to extend at each time step the previous general framework to ageing viscoelasticity. Finally, with the help of a creep test of a porous viscoelastic matrix reinforced with elastic inclusions, it is shown that the method yields accurate predictions (comparing to reference results provided by periodic cell finite element computations).     

Micromechanical approach to the strength properties of frictional geomaterials

The present paper describes a micromechanics-based approach to the strength properties of composite materials with a Drucker–Prager matrix in the situation of non-associated plasticity. The concept of limit stress states for such materials is first extended to the context of homogenization. It is shown that the macroscopic limit stress states can theoretically be obtained from the solution to a sequence of viscoplastic problems stated on the representative elementary volume. The strategy of resolution implements a non-linear homogenization technique based on the modified secant method. This procedure is applied to the determination of the macroscopic strength properties and plastic flow rule of materials reinforced by rigid inclusions, as well as for porous media. The role of the matrix dilatancy coefficient is in particular discussed in both cases. Finally, finite element solutions are derived for a porous medium and compared to the micromechanical predictions.     

A micromechanical model for porous materials with a reinforced matrix

In this study a micromechanical model is proposed for ductile porous material whose matrix is reinforced by small inclusions. The solid phase is described by a pressure sensitive plastic model. Based on works of Maghous et al. [6], a macroscopic plastic criterion is firstly obtained by using a two-step homogenization procedure. The effect of porosity at the mesoscale and the influence of inclusions at the microscale are taken into account simultaneously by this criterion. With a non-associated plastic flow rule, the micro-macro model is applied to modeling of mechanical behavior of a cement paste. In particular, we have considered at the microscopic scale the formation of calcite grains by carbonation process in the solid matrix. The studied cement paste is then seen as a reinforced matrix–pore system. Comparisons between numerical results and experimental data show that the proposed model is able to capture the main features of the mechanical behavior of the studied material.     

Computational studies on high-stiffness,high-damping SiC–InSn particulate reinforced composites

With the objective of achieving composite material systems that feature high stiffness and high mechanical damping, consideration is given here to unit cell analysis of particulate composites with high volume fraction of inclusions. Effective elastic properties of the composite are computed with computational homogenization based on unit cell analysis. The correspondence principle together with the viscoelastic properties of the indium–tin eutectic matrix are then used to compute the effective viscoelastic properties of the composite. Comparison is made with parallel experiments upon composites with an indium–tin eutectic matrix and high volume fractions of silicon-carbide reinforcement. The analytical techniques indicate that combinations of relatively high stiffness and high damping can be achieved in particulate composites with high SiC volume fractions. Based on analysis, the tradeoffs between stiffness and damping characteristics are assessed by changing the volume fraction, size, packing, and gradation of the particulate reinforcement phases. Practical considerations associated with realization of such composites based on the surface energy between the SiC and the InSn are discussed.     

Strength homogenization of matrix-inclusion composites using the linear comparison composite approach

A homogenization procedure to estimate the macroscopic strength of nonlinear matrix-inclusion composites with different strength characteristics of the matrix and inclusions, respectively, is presented in this paper. The strength up-scaling is formulated within the framework of the yield design theory and the linear comparison composite (LCC) approach, introduced by Ponte Castaneda (2002) and extended to frictional models by Ortega et al. (2011), which estimates the macroscopic strength of composite materials in terms of an optimally chosen linear thermo–elastic comparison composite with a similar underlying microstructure. In the paper various combinations for the underlying material behavior for the individual phases of the composite are considered: The matrix phase can be a quasi frictional material characterized either by a Drucker–Prager-type (hyperbolic) or an elliptical strength criterion, which predicts a strength limit also in hydrostatic compression, while the inclusion phase either may represent empty pores, pore voids filled with a pore fluid, rigid inclusions, or solid inclusions, whose strength characteristics also maybe described by a Drucker–Prager-type or an elliptical strength criterion. For generating the homogenized strength criterion efficiently in such general cases of matrix-inclusion composites, a novel algorithm is proposed in the paper. The validation of the proposed strength homogenization procedure for selected combinations of strength characteristics of the matrix material and the inclusions is conducted by comparisons with experimental results and alternative existing strength homogenization models.     

Effective thermal conductivity of partially saturated porous rocks

The present work is concerned with the determination of the effective thermal conductivity of porous rocks or rock-like composites composed by multiple solid constituents, in partially saturated conditions. Based on microstructure observations, a two-step homogenization scheme is developed: the first step for the solid constituents only, and the second step for the (already homogenized) solid matrix and pores. Several homogenization schemes (dilute, Mori–Tanaka, the effective field method and Ponte Castañeda–Willis technique) are presented and compared in this context. Such methods are allowing: (i) to incorporate in the modellization the physical parameters (mineralogy, morphology) influencing the effective properties of the considered material, and the saturation degree of the porous phase; (ii) to account for interaction effects between matrix and inhomogeneities; (iii) to consider different spatial distributions of inclusions (spherical, ellipsoïdal). An orientation distribution function (ODF) permits simultaneously to incorporate in the modelling the transverse isotropy of pore systems. Appearing as homogeneous at the macroscopic scale, it is showed that the effective conductivity depends on the physical properties of all subsidiary phases (microscopic inhomogeneities). By considering the solution of a single ellipsoïdal inhomogeneity in the homogenization problem it is possible to observe the significant influence of the geometry, shape and spatial distribution of inhomogeneities on the effective thermal conductivity and its dependence with the saturation degree of liquid phase. The predictive capacities of the two-step homogenization method are evaluated by comparison with experimental results obtained for an argillite.     

Homogenization of elastic–viscoplastic heterogeneous materials: Self-consistent and Mori-Tanaka schemes

This paper deals with the prediction of the macroscopic behavior of a multiphase elastic–viscoplastic material. The proposed homogenization schemes are based on an interaction law postulated by Molinari et al. [Molinari, A., Ahzi, S., Kouddane, R. 1997. On the self-consistent modelling of elastic–plastic behavior of polycrystals. Mech. Mater., 26, 43–62]. Self-consistent schemes are developed to describe the behavior of disordered aggregates. The Mori-Tanaka approach is used to capture the behavior of composite materials, where one phase can be clearly identified as the matrix. The proposed schemes are developed within a general framework where compressible elasticity and anisotropy of the materials are taken into account. Inclusions can have various shapes and orientations. Illustrations of the homogenization procedure are given for a two-phase composite materials. Comparisons between results of the literature and predictions based on the interaction law are performed and have demonstrated the efficiency of the proposed homogenization schemes.     

A micromechanical study of drying and carbonation effects in cement-based materials

This paper is devoted to a micromechanical study of mechanical properties of cement-based materials by taking into account effects of water saturation degree and carbonation process. To this end, the cement-based materials are considered as a composite material constituted with a cement matrix and aggregates (inclusions). Further, the cement matrix is seen as a porous medium with a solid phase (CSH) and pores. Using a two-step homogenization procedure, a closed-form micromechanical model is first formulated to describe the basic mechanical behavior of materials. This model is then extended to partially saturated materials in order to account for the effects of water saturation degree on the mechanical properties. Finally, considering the solid phase change and porosity variation related to the carbonation process, the micromechanical model is coupled with the chemical reaction and is able to describe the consequences of carbonation on the macroscopic mechanical properties of material. Some comparisons between numerical results and experimental data are presented.     

On the stiffness of materials containing a disordered array of microscopic holes or hard inclusions

We study the macroscopic mechanical behavior of materials with microscopic holes or hard inclusions. Specifically, we deal with the effective elastic moduli of composites whose microgeometry consists of either soft or hard isolated inclusions surrounded by an elastic matrix. We approach this problem by taking the stiffness of the inclusion phase to be a complex variable, which we eventually evaluate at the soft or hard limits. Our main result states that there is a certain class of non-physical, negative-definite values of the elastic moduli of the inclusion phase for which the effective tensor does not have infinities or become otherwise singular.We present applications of this result to the estimation of effective moduli and to homogenization theorems. The first application involves using complexanalytic methods to obtain rigorous and accurate bounds on the effective moduli of the high-contrast composites under consideration. We also discuss the variational estimates of Rubenfeld & Keller, which yield a complementary set of bounds on these moduli. The best bounds are given by a combination of the analytical and variational results. As a second application, we show that certain known theorems of homogenization for materials with holes are simple consequences of our main result, and in this connection we establish corresponding new theorems for materials with hard inclusions. While our rederivation of the homogenization theorems for materials with holes can be closely related to other known constructions, it appears that certain elements provided by our main result are essential in the proof of homogenization for the hard-inclusion case.     

Homogenization of two-phase elasto-plastic composite materials and structures: Study of tangent operators,cyclic plasticity and numerical algorithms

We develop homogenization schemes and numerical algorithms for two-phase elasto-plastic composite materials and structures. A Hill-type incremental formulation enables the simulation of unloading and cyclic loadings. It also allows to handle any rate-independent model for each phase. We study the crucial issue of tangent operators: elasto-plastic (or “continuum”) versus algorithmic (or “consistent”), and anisotropic versus isotropic. We apply two methods of extraction of isotropic tangent moduli. We compare mathematically the stiffnesses of various tangent operators. All rate equations are discretized in time using implicit integration. We implemented two homogenization schemes: Mori–Tanaka and a double inclusion model, and two plasticity models: classical J₂ plasticity and Chaboche’s model with non-linear kinematic and isotropic hardenings. We consider composites with different properties and present several discriminating numerical simulations. In many cases, the results are validated against finite element (FE) or experimental data. We integrated our homogenization code into the FE program ABAQUS using a user material interface UMAT. A two-scale procedure allows to compute realistic structures made of non-linear composite materials within reasonable CPU time and memory usage; examples are shown.     

Homogenization of long fiber reinforced composites including fiber bending effects

This paper presents a homogenization method, which accounts for intrinsic size effects related to the fiber diameter in long fiber reinforced composite materials with two independent constitutive models for the matrix and fiber materials. A new choice of internal kinematic variables allows to maintain the kinematics of the two material phases independent from the assumed constitutive models, so that stress–deformation relationships, can be expressed in the framework of hyper-elasticity and hyper-elastoplasticity for the fiber and the matrix materials respectively. The bending stiffness of the reinforcing fibers is captured by higher order strain terms, resulting in an accurate representation of the micro-mechanical behavior of the composite. Numerical examples show that the accuracy of the proposed model is very close to a non-homogenized finite-element model with an explicit discretization of the matrix and the fibers.     

An explicit expression of the effective moduli for composite materials filled with coated inclusions

The obvious shortcoming of the generalized self-consistent method (GSCM) is that the effective shear modulus of composite materials estimated by the method can not be expressed in an explicit form. This is inconvenient in engineering applications. In order to overcome that shortcoming of GSCM, a reformation of GSCM is made and a new micromechanical scheme is suggested in this paper. By means of this new scheme, both the effective bulk and shear moduli of an inclusion-matrix composite material can be obtained and be expressed in simple explicit forms. A comparison with the existing models and the rigorous Hashin-Shtrikman bounds demonstrates that the present scheme is accurate. By a two-step homogenization technique from the present new scheme, the effective moduli of the composite materials with coated spherical inclusions are obtained and can also be expressed in an explicit form. The comparison with the existing theoretical and experimental results shows that the present solutions are satisfactory. Moreover, a quantitative comparison of GSCM and the Mori-Tanaka method (MTM) is made based on a unified scheme. The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under the Contract NO. 19632030 and 19572008, and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation     

单向纤维复合材料粘弹性性能预测

建立了基于均匀化理论的单向纤维复合材料粘弹性性能预测方法。对单向纤维增强复合材料粘弹性问题的控制方程进行Laplace变换,在像空间中利用均匀化理论建立宏观松弛模量的Laplace变换与微结构描述参数以及变换参数间的关系。用Prony级数模拟松弛模量随变换参数的变化形式,并根据像空间中一系列变换参数对应的松弛模量的数值,采用函数拟合技术确定Prony级数的形式,从而确定用显示形式表示的松弛模量的Laplace变换随变换参数的变化规律。对显式表达式的逆变换获得时间域内的松弛模量。该方法利用拟合函数的逆变换避开了复杂的数值Laplace逆变换,使单向纤维增强复合材料的粘弹性性能的确定变得容易。文中给出了单向纤维复合材料松弛模量的数值预测结果并同有限元法模拟试验的结果对比,验证了预测结果的准确性以及本文方法的有效性。     

Objective evaluation of linearization procedures in nonlinear homogenization: A methodology and some implications on the accuracy of micromechanical schemes

A systematic methodology for an accurate evaluation of various existing linearization procedures sustaining mean fields theories for nonlinear composites is proposed and applied to recent homogenization methods. It relies on the analysis of a periodic composite for which an exact resolution of both the original nonlinear homogenization problem and the linear homogenization problems associated with the chosen linear comparison composite (LCC) with an identical microstructure is possible. The effects of the sole linearization scheme can then be evaluated without ambiguity. This methodology is applied to three different two-phase materials in which the constitutive behavior of at least one constituent is nonlinear elastic (or viscoplastic): a reinforced composite, a material in which both phases are nonlinear and a porous material. Comparisons performed on these three materials between the considered homogenization schemes and the reference solution bear out the relevance and the performances of the modified second-order procedure introduced by Ponte Castañeda in terms of prediction of the effective responses. However, under the assumption that the field statistics (first and second moments) are given by the local fields in the LCC, all the recent nonlinear homogenization procedures still fail to provide an accurate enough estimate of the strain statistics, especially for composites with high contrast.     

Prediction of tension–compression cycles in multiphase steel using a modified incremental mean-field model

A micromechanical model is proposed for multiphase metals consisting of a ductile matrix reinforced by hard, equiaxed inclusions. The model belongs to a class of incremental mean-field theories of the first order and is suitable for general, non-monotonic loading paths. This paper specifically addresses the definition of the effective, instantaneous shear modulus of the isotropic comparison materials which intervene in the solution of the linearized, homogenisation problem. Time integration of the composite response is calculated using a Newton–Raphson scheme and a consistent tangent operator is derived. Predictions of the phase stresses developed under various loading modes and for a wide range of volume fractions of inclusions are assessed by a comparison with finite element simulations of periodic unit cells. It is argued that the latter predictions depend dramatically on the topological arrangement of the inclusions. Considering a cubic ordering of inclusions, it is possible to reproduce FE predictions with the mean-field model on the condition that the comparison materials are stiffer than the real phases during the first few percent of plastic strain. The mean-field model provides an accurate prediction of the average stress developed within individual phases.     

纤维排列方式对复合材料总体粘弹性常数的影响

对于金属基或高分子聚合物基复合材料，在特定情况下会表现出明显的粘弹性特性。本文采用Riemann—Liouville形式的分数阶导数模型描述基体的粘性特性，通过渐进均匀化方法给出了预测纤维加强复合材料整体本构关系的解析表达式，给出应用于基体具有Makris粘弹性关系的具体形式。最后，考察了圆截面纤维正方形排列和对角排列时的总体粘弹性弹性常数随纤维比的变化曲线。结果表明，这类复合材料仍具有粘弹性特性，其整体粘弹性本构关系的弹性部分综合了纤维弹性和基体弹性的贡献，粘性部分来自基体粘性的贡献，复合材料具有和基体相同的粘性系数和分数阶。为分析微结构特征对整体特性的贡献，须求解两类局部问题。在相同纤维体积比情况下，正方形排列的总体弹性系数大于正方形对角排列，而粘性常数相反。     

Nonlinear neutral inclusions: Assemblages of spheres

The problem of determining nonlinear neutral inclusions in (electrical or thermal) conductivity is considered. Neutral inclusions, inserted in a matrix containing a uniform applied electric field, do not disturb the field outside the inclusions. The well known Hashin coated sphere construction is an example of a neutral inclusion. In this paper, we consider the problem of constructing neutral inclusions from nonlinear materials. In particular, we discuss assemblages of coated spheres and the two-dimensional analogous problem of assemblages of coated disks.     

A micromechanical iterative approach for the behavior of polydispersed composites

In this paper, an iterative homogenization method is proposed in order to predict the behavior of polydispersed materials. Various families of heterogeneities according to their geometrical or mechanical properties are progressively introduced into a volume of matrix. At each step, the behavior of intermediate medium is obtained by any analytical homogenization method and is used as matrix of the following step. All homogenization methods, like dilute strain or stress approximations, Hashin’s bounds, three phases method, Mori–Tanaka’s approach or for example the N-layered inclusions method lead to the same effective behavior for the polydispersed material after convergence of the iterative process. Moreover, this convergence is obtained even for significant fractions of heterogeneities and for highly contrasted or polydispersed materials. This method is applied to various composites and validated by comparison with other modellings and experimental results.