Martín I Idiart

Field statistics in nonlinear composites. I. Theory

This work presents a means for extracting the statistics of the local fields in nonlinear composites from the effective potential of suitably perturbed composites. The idea is to introduce a parameter in the local potentials, generally a tensor, such that differentiation of the corresponding effective potential with respect to the parameter yields the volume average of the desired quantity. In particular, this provides a generalization to the nonlinear case of well-known formulas in the context of linear composites, which express phase averages and second moments of the local fields in terms of derivatives of the effective potential. Such expressions are useful since they allow the generation of estimates for the field statistics in nonlinear composites, directly from homogenization estimates for appropriately defined effective potentials. Here, use is made of these expressions in the context of the ‘variational’, ‘tangent second-order’ and ‘second-order’ homogenization methods, to obtain rigorous estimates for the first and second moments of the fields in nonlinear composites. While the variational estimates for these quantities are found to be identical to those proposed in previous works, the tangent second-order and second-order estimates are found be different. In particular, the new estimates for the first moments given in this work are found to be entirely consistent with the corresponding estimates for the macroscopic behaviour. Sample results for two-phase, power-law composites are provided in part II of this work.

Variational linear comparison bounds for nonlinear composites with anisotropic phases. I. General results

This work is concerned with the development of bounds for nonlinear composites with anisotropic phases by means of an appropriate generalization of the ‘linear comparison’ variational method, introduced by Ponte Castañeda for composites with isotropic phases. The bounds can be expressed in terms of a convex (concave) optimization problem, requiring the computation of certain ‘error’ functions that, in turn, depend on the solution of a non-concave/non-convex optimization problem. A simple formula is derived for the overall stress–strain relation of the composite associated with the bound, and special, simpler forms are provided for power-law materials, as well as for ideally plastic materials, where the computation of the error functions simplifies dramatically. As will be seen in part II of this work in the specific context of composites with crystalline phases (e.g. polycrystals), the new bounds have the capability of improving on earlier bounds, such as the ones proposed by deBotton and Ponte Castañeda for these specific material systems.

Infinite-contrast periodic composites with strongly nonlinear behavior: Effective-medium theory versus full-field simulations

Abstract This paper presents a combined numerical-theoretical study of the macroscopic behavior and local field distributions in a special class of two-dimensional periodic composites with viscoplastic phases. The emphasis is on strongly nonlinear materials containing pores or rigid inclusions. Full-field numerical simulations are carried out using a fast Fourier transform algorithm [Moulinec, H., Suquet, P., 1994. A fast numerical method for computing the linear and nonlinear properties of composites. C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris II 318, 1417–1423.], while the theoretical results are obtained by means of the ‘second-order’ nonlinear homogenization method [Ponte Castaneda, P., 2002. Second-order homogenization estimates for nonlinear composites incorporating field fluctuations. I. Theory. J. Mech. Phys. Solids 50, 737–757]. The effect of nonlinearity and inclusion concentration is investigated in the context of power-law (with strain-rate sensitivity m ) behavior for the matrix phase under in-plane shear loadings. Overall, the ‘second-order’ estimates are found to be in good agreement with the numerical simulations, with the best agreement for the rigidly reinforced materials. For the porous systems, as the nonlinearity increases ( m decreases), the strain field is found to localize along shear bands passing through the voids (the strain fluctuations becoming unbounded) and the effective stress exhibits a singular behavior in the dilute limit. More specifically, for small porosities and fixed nonlinearity m > 0 , the effective stress decreases linearly with increasing porosity. However, for ideally plastic behavior ( m = 0 ) , the dependence on porosity becomes non-analytic. On the other hand, for rigidly-reinforced composites, the strain field adopts a tile pattern with bounded strain fluctuations, and no singular behavior is observed (to leading order) in the dilute limit.

Size effects in the torsion of thin metal wires

The elasto-plastic torsional response of a thin metal wire is analysed using the phenomenological flow theory of strain-gradient plasticity proposed by Fleck and Willis (2009 Part I J. Mech. Phys. Solids 57 161, 2009 Part II J. Mech. Phys. Solids 57 1045). Numerical results are obtained via minimum principles, and closed-form expressions are derived in the limit of vanishing elasticity. An elevation of both initial yield and hardening rate is predicted with decreasing wire diameter. The role of the stored energy of cold work is investigated, and its implications for kinematic hardening are discussed.

Variational linear comparison bounds for nonlinear composites with anisotropic phases. II. Crystalline materials

In part I of this work, bounds were derived for the effective potentials of nonlinear composites with anisotropic constituents, making use of an appropriate generalization of the linear comparison variational method. In this second part, the special case of nonlinear composites with crystalline constituents is considered. First, it is shown that, for this special but very important class of materials, the ‘variational’ bounds of part I are at least as good as an earlier version of the bounds due to deBotton & Ponte Castañeda. Then, the relative merits of these two types of bounds are studied in the context of a model, two-dimensional, porous composite with a power-law crystalline matrix phase, under anti-plane loading conditions. The results show that, indeed, the variational bounds of part I improve, in general, on the earlier bounds, with the former becoming progressively sharper than the latter as the number of slip systems of the crystalline matrix phase increases. In particular, it is shown that, unlike the bounds of deBotton & Ponte Castañeda, the variational bounds of part I are able to recover the variational bound for composites with an isotropic matrix phase, as the number of slip systems, all having the same flow stress, tends to infinity.

Effective-medium theory for infinite-contrast two-dimensionally periodic linear composites with strongly anisotropic matrix behavior: Dilute limit and crossover behavior

The overall behavior of a 2D lattice of voids embedded in an anisotropic matrix is investigated in the limit of vanishing porosity f. An effective-medium model (of the Hashin-Shtrikman type) which accounts for elastic interactions between neighboring voids, is compared to Fast Fourier Transform numerical solutions and, in the limits of infinite anisotropy, to exact results. A cross-over between regular and singular dilute regimes is found, driven by a characteristic length which depends on f and on the anisotropy strength. The singular regime, where the leading dilute correction to the elastic moduli is an O(f^{1/2}), is related to strain localization and to change in character - from elliptic to hyperbolic - of the governing equations.

Field fluctuations and macroscopic properties for nonlinear composites

Abstract A recently introduced nonlinear homogenization method [J. Mech. Phys. Solids 50 ( 2002) 737–757] is used to estimate the effective behavior and the associated strain and stress fluctuations in two-phase, power-law composites with aligned-fiber microstructures, subjected to anti-plane strain, or in-plane strain loading. Using the Hashin–Shtrikman estimates for the relevant “linear comparison composite,” results are generated for two-phase systems, including fiber-reinforced and fiber-weakened composites. These results, which are known to be exact to second-order in the heterogeneity contrast, are found to satisfy all known bounds. Explicit analytical expressions are obtained for the special case of rigid-ideally plastic composites, including results for arbitrary contrast and fiber concentration. The effective properties, as well as the phase averages and fluctuations predicted for these strongly nonlinear composites appear to be consistent with deformation mechanisms involving shear bands. More specifically, for the case where the fibers are stronger than the matrix, the predictions appear to be consistent with the shear bands tending to avoid the fibers, while the opposite would be true for the case where the fibers are weaker.

Modeling two-phase ferroelectric composites by sequential laminates

Theoretical estimates are given for the overall dissipative response of two-phase ferroelectric composites with complex particulate microstructures under arbitrary loading histories. The ferroelectric behavior of the constituent phases is described via a stored energy density and a dissipation potential in accordance with the theory of generalized standard materials. An implicit time-discretization scheme is used to generate a variational representation of the overall response in terms of a single incremental potential. Estimates are then generated by constructing sequentially laminated microgeometries of particulate type whose overall incremental potential can be computed exactly. Because they are realizable, by construction, these estimates are guaranteed to conform with any material constraints, to satisfy all pertinent bounds and to exhibit the required convexity properties with no duality gap. Predictions for representative composite and porous systems are reported and discussed in the light of existing experimental data.

Field statistics in nonlinear composites. II. Applications

Part I of this work provided a methodology for extracting the statistics of the local fields in nonlinear composites, from the effective potential of suitably perturbed composites. In particular, exact relations were given for the first and even moments of the fields in each constituent phase. In this part, use is made of these exact relations in the context of the ‘variational’, ‘tangent second-order’ and ‘second-order’ nonlinear homogenization methods to generate estimates for the phase averages and second moments of the fields for two-phase, power-law composites with isotropic and transversely isotropic microstructures. The accuracy of these estimates is assessed by confronting them against corresponding exact results for sequentially laminated composites. Among the nonlinear homogenization estimates considered in this work, the second-order estimates are found to be, in general, the most accurate, especially for large heterogeneity contrast and nonlinearity. Thus, these estimates are able to capture, for example, the strong anisotropy in the strain fluctuations that can develop inside nonlinear porous and rigidly reinforced composites.

The effect of interfaces on the plastic behavior of periodic composites

A theoretical framework is given for predicting the effect of microstructural size on the strength of N-phase periodic composites. It is assumed that the strength is elevated by plastic strain gradients in the bulk and by the resistance to plastic slip at internal material interfaces. Calculations are given for a two-phase, power-law material with a cubic array of spherical reinforcement particles. The macroscopic stress–strain relations are found to exhibit Hall–Petch behavior, and the size effect becomes more pronounced with increasing interface strength. Moreover, size effects are predicted for both yield strength and plastic hardening rate of the composite. The relative magnitude of these two effects is sensitive to the choice of constitutive description of the interface.