Search results for "Computational Homogenization"
showing 10 items of 13 documents
Virtual Element based formulations for computational materials micro-mechanics and homogenization
2021
In this thesis, a computational framework for microstructural modelling of transverse behaviour of heterogeneous materials is presented. The context of this research is part of the broad and active field of Computational Micromechanics, which has emerged as an effective tool both to understand the influence of complex microstructure on the macro-mechanical response of engineering materials and to tailor-design innovative materials for specific applications through a proper modification of their microstructure. While the classical continuum approximation does not account for microstructural details within the material, computational micromechanics allows detailed modelling of a heterogeneous…
A FE-Meshless Multiscale Approach for Masonry Materials
2015
Abstract A FE-Meshless multiscale computational strategy for the analysis of running bond masonry is presented. The Meshless Method (MM) is adopted to solve the boundary value problem (BVP) at the mesoscopic level. The representative unit cell is composed by the aggregate and the surrounding joints, the former assumed to behave elastically while the latter are simulated as non-associated elastic-plastic zero-thickness interfaces with a softening response. Macroscopic localization of plastic bands is obtained performing a spectral analysis of the tangent stiffness matrix. Localized plastic bands are embedded into the quadrature points area of the macroscopic finite elements.
Mesoscopic aspects of the computational homogenization with meshless modeling for masonry material
2020
The multiscale homogenization scheme is becoming a diffused tool for the analysis of heterogeneous materials as masonry since it allows dealing with the complexity of formulating closed-form constitutive laws by retrieving the material response from the solution of a unit cell (UC) boundary value problem (BVP). The robustness of multiscale simulations depends on the robustness of the nested macroscopic and mesoscopic models. In this study, specific attention is paid to the meshless solution of the UC BVP under plane stress conditions, comparing performances related to the application of linear displacement or periodic boundary conditions (BCs). The effect of the geometry of the UC is also i…
Virtual element method for computational homogenization of composite and heterogeneous materials
2020
Abstract In this study, a two-dimensional multi-region framework, based on the use of the Virtual Element Method (VEM), is developed for computational materials homogenization and applied to different classes of widely employed heterogeneous materials. The VEM has recently emerged as a powerful generalisation of the Finite Element Method capable of dealing with very general polygonal mesh elements, including non-convex or highly distorted elements. Such features are appealing for the treatment of problems whose analysis domains present complex or statistical morphological features, which would generally require careful and time-consuming mesh/data preparation and regularization. In this wor…
The FE-Meshless multiscale approach applied to masonry structures
2015
Heterogeneous structures have an overall response that is strongly dependent on the inelastic events developing at the local level. In these structures, the most relevant kinematical and mechanical phenomena take place at a scale which is small if compared to the dimensions of the entire structure. In literature, a mesoscopic and a macroscopic scales of interest are distinguished, directly linked to as many theoretical approaches. The mesoscopic approach [1] considers materials and their interfaces individually, but many difficulties arise in the mesh creation and a fine discretization of the structure is needed, which leads to prohibitive computational costs. The macroscopic approach consi…
Effective elastic properties of biocomposites using 3D computational homogenization and X-ray microcomputed tomography
2021
A 3D computational homogenization method based on X-ray microcomputed tomography (μCT) was proposed and implemented to investigate how the fiber weight fraction, orthotropy and orientation distribution affect the effective elastic properties of regenerated cellulose fiber-polylactic acid (PLA) biocomposites. Three-dimensional microstructures reconstructed by means of the X-ray μCT were used as the representative volume elements (RVEs) and incorporated into the finite element solver within the computational homogenization framework. The present method used Euclidean bipartite matching technique so as to eliminate the generation of artificial periodic boundaries and use the in-situ solution d…
A hybrid virtual–boundary element formulation for heterogeneous materials
2021
Abstract In this work, a hybrid formulation based on the conjoined use of the recently developed Virtual Element Method (VEM) and the Boundary Element Method (BEM) is proposed for the effective computational analysis of multi-region domains, representative of heterogeneous materials. VEM has been recently developed as a generalisation of the Finite Element Method (FEM) and it allows the straightforward employment of elements of general polygonal shape, maintaining a high level of accuracy. For its inherent features, it allows the use of meshes of general topology, including non-convex elements. On the other hand, BEM is an effective technique for the numerical solution of sets of boundary i…
Coupling BEM and VEM for the Analysis of Composite Materials with Damage
2021
Numerical tools which are able to predict and explain the initiation and propagation of damage at the microscopic level in heterogeneous materials are of high interest for the analysis and design of modern materials. In this contribution, we report the application of a recently developed numerical scheme based on the coupling between the Virtual Element Method (VEM) and the Boundary Element Method (BEM) within the framework of continuum damage mechanics (CDM) to analyze the progressive loss of material integrity in heterogeneous materials with complex microstructures. VEM is a novel numerical technique that, allowing the use of general polygonal mesh elements, assures conspicuous simplific…
An enhanced grain-boundary framework for computational homogenization and micro-cracking simulations of polycrystalline materials
2015
An enhanced three-dimensional (3D) framework for computational homogenization and intergranular cracking of polycrystalline materials is presented. The framework is aimed at reducing the computational cost of polycrystalline micro simulations, with an aim towards effective multiscale modelling. The scheme is based on a recently developed Voronoi cohesive-frictional grain-boundary formulation. A regularization scheme is used to avoid excessive mesh refinements often induced by the presence of small edges and surfaces in mathematically exact 3D Voronoi morphologies. For homogenization purposes, periodic boundary conditions are enforced on non-prismatic periodic micro representative volume ele…
A computationally effective 3D Boundary Element Method for polycrystalline micromechanics
2015
An effective computational framework for homogenization and microcracking analysis of polycrystalline RVEs is presented. The method is based on a recently developed grain-boundary formulation for polycrystalline materials and several enhancements over the original technique are introduced to reduce the computational effort needed to model three-dimensional polycrystalline aggregates, which is highly desirable, especially in a multiscale perspective. First, a regularization scheme is used to remove pathological entities, usually responsible for unduly large mesh refinements, from Voronoi polycrystalline morphologies. Second, an improved meshing strategy is used, with an aim towards meshing r…