Computational continua for linear elastic heterogeneous solids on unstructured finite element meshes

The computational continua framework, which is a variant of higher‐order computational homogenization theories that is free of scale separation, does not require higher‐order finite element continuity, and is free of higher‐order boundary conditions, has been generalized to unstructured meshes. The salient features of the proposed generalization are (i) a nonlocal quadrature scheme for distorted elements that accounts for unit cell distortion in the parent element domain and (ii) an approximate variant of the nonlocal quadrature that eliminates the cost of computing positions of the quadrature points in the preprocessing stage. The performance of the computational continua framework on unstructured meshes has been compared to the first‐order homogenization theory and the direct numerical simulation.     

Mathematical homogenization of nonperiodic heterogeneous media subjected to large deformation transient loading

We present a generalization of the classical mathematical homogenization theory aimed at accounting for finite unit cell distortions, which gives rise to a nonperiodic asymptotic expansion. We introduce an auxiliary macro‐deformed configuration, where the overall Cauchy stress is defined, and nonperiodic boundary conditions. Verification studies against a direct numerical simulation demonstrate the versatility of the proposed method. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Computational certification under limited experiments

A computational certification framework under limited experimental data is developed. By this approach, a high‐fidelity model (HFM) is first calibrated to limited experimental data. Subsequently, the HFM is employed to train a low‐fidelity model (LFM). Finally, the calibrated LFM is utilized for component analysis. The rational for utilizing HFM in the initial stage stems from the fact that constitutive laws of individual microphases in HFM are rather simple so that the number of material parameters that needs to be identified is less than in the LFM. The added complexity of material models in LFM is necessary to compensate for simplified kinematical assumptions made in LFM and for smearing discrete defect structure. The first‐order computational homogenization model, which resolves microstructural details including the structure of defects, is selected as the HFM, whereas the reduced‐order homogenization is selected as the LFM. Certification framework illustration, verification, and validation are conducted for ceramic matrix composite material system comprised of the 8‐harness weave architecture. Blind validation is performed against experimental data to validate the proposed computational certification framework.     

Computational homogenization of nonlinear elastic materials using neural networks

In this work, a decoupled computational homogenization method for nonlinear elastic materials is proposed using neural networks. In this method, the effective potential is represented as a response surface parameterized by the macroscopic strains and some microstructural parameters. The discrete values of the effective potential are computed by finite element method through random sampling in the parameter space, and neural networks are used to approximate the surface response and to derive the macroscopic stress and tangent tensor components. We show through several numerical convergence analyses that smooth functions can be efficiently evaluated in parameter spaces with dimension up to 10, allowing to consider three‐dimensional representative volume elements and an explicit dependence of the effective behavior on microstructural parameters like volume fraction. We present several applications of this technique to the homogenization of nonlinear elastic composites, involving a two‐scale example of heterogeneous structure with graded nonlinear properties. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A staggered nonlocal multiscale model for a heterogeneous medium

A staggered nonlocal multiscale model for a heterogeneous medium is developed and validated. The model is termed as staggered nonlocal in the sense that it employs current information for the point under consideration and past information from its local neighborhood. For heterogeneous materials, the concept of phase nonlocality is introduced by which nonlocal phase eigenstrains are computed using different nonlocal phase kernels. The staggered nonlocal multiscale model has been found to be insensitive to finite element mesh size and load increment size. Furthermore, the computational overhead in dealing with nonlocal information is mitigated by superior convergence of the Newton method. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A new multi‐scale scheme for modeling heterogeneous incompressible hyperelastic materials

A computational homogenization scheme is developed to model heterogeneous hyperelastic materials undergoing large deformations. The homogenization scheme is based on a so‐called computational continua formulation in which the macro‐scale model is assumed to consist of disjoint unit cells. This formulation adds no higher‐order boundary conditions and extra degrees of freedom to the problem. A computational procedure is presented to calculate the macroscopic quantities from the solution of the representative volume element boundary value problem. The proposed homogenization scheme is verified against a direct numerical simulation. It is also shown that the computational cost of the proposed model is lower than that of standard homogenization schemes. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Computational homogenization of coupled consolidation problems in micro‐heterogeneous porous media

Computational homogenization is exploited for the analysis of transient hydro‐mechanically coupled problems subjected to quasistatic loading (consolidation) in micro‐heterogeneous porous solids. The classical approach of first‐order homogenization is adopted in the spatial domain on representative volume elements (RVE), which are introduced in quadrature points in standard fashion. Along with the classical averages, a higher order conservation quantity is obtained. An iterative FE ²‐algorithm is devised for the case of nonlinear permeability and storage coefficients, and it is applied to pore pressure changes in asphalt‐concrete (particle composite). Various parametric studies are carried out, in particular with respect to the influence of the characteristics (size, particle arrangement) of the RVE's. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fully coupled hydromechanical multiscale model with microdynamic effects

In this paper, a multiscale finite element framework is developed based on the first‐order homogenization method for fully coupled saturated porous media using an extension of the Hill‐Mandel theory in the presence of microdynamic effects. The multiscale method is employed for the consolidation problem of a 2‐dimensional saturated soil medium generated from the periodic arrangement of circular particles embedded in a square matrix, which is compared with the direct numerical simulation method. The effects of various issues, including the boundary conditions, size effects, particle arrangements, and the integral domain constraints for the microscale boundary value problem, are numerically investigated to illustrate the performance of a representative volume element in the proposed computational homogenization method of fully coupled saturated porous media. This study is aimed to clarify the effect of scale separation and size dependence, and to introduce characteristics of a proper representative volume element in multiscale modeling of saturated porous media.     

A regularized phenomenological multiscale damage model

We present a regularized phenomenological multiscale model where elastic properties are computed using direct homogenization and subsequently evolved using a simple three‐parameter orthotropic continuum damage model. The salient feature of the model is a unified regularization framework based on the concept of effective softening strain. The unified regularization scheme has been employed in the context of constitutive law rescaling and the staggered nonlocal approach. We show that an element erosion technique for crack propagation when exercised with one of the two regularization schemes (1) possesses a characteristic length, (2) is consistent with fracture mechanics approach, and (3) does not suffer from pathological mesh sensitivity. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Localization aligned weakly periodic boundary conditions

When computing the homogenized response of a representative volume element (RVE), a popular choice is to impose periodic boundary conditions on the RVE. Despite their popularity, it is well known that standard periodic boundary conditions lead to inaccurate results if cracks or localization bands in the RVE are not aligned with the periodicity directions. A previously proposed remedy is to use modified strong periodic boundary conditions that are aligned with the dominating localization direction in the RVE. In the present work, we show that alignment of periodic boundary conditions can also conveniently be performed on weak form. Starting from a previously proposed format for weak micro‐periodicity that does not require a periodic mesh, we show that aligned weakly periodic boundary conditions may be constructed by only modifying the mapping (mirror function) between the associated parts of the RVE boundary. In particular, we propose a modified mirror function that allows alignment with an identified localization direction. This modified mirror function corresponds to a shifted stacking of RVEs, and thereby ensures compatibility of the dominating discontinuity over the RVE boundaries. The proposed method leads to more accurate results compared to using unaligned periodic boundary conditions, as demonstrated by the numerical examples. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A framework for implementation of RVE‐based multiscale models in computational homogenization using isogeometric analysis

This study presents an isogeometric framework for incorporating representative volume element–based multiscale models into computational homogenization. First‐order finite deformation homogenization theory is derived within the framework of the method of multiscale virtual power, and Lagrange multipliers are used to illustrate the effects of considering different kinematical constraints. Using a Lagrange multiplier approach in the numerical implementation of the discrete system naturally leads to a consolidated treatment of the commonly employed representative volume element boundary conditions. Implementation of finite deformation computational strain‐driven, stress‐driven, and mixed homogenization is detailed in the context of isogeometric analysis (IGA), and performance is compared to standard finite element analysis. As finite deformations are considered, a numerical multiscale stability analysis procedure is also detailed for use with IGA. Unique implementation aspects that arise when computational homogenization is performed using IGA are discussed, and the developed framework is applied to a complex curved microstructure representing an architectured material.     

Computational nonlinear stochastic homogenization using a nonconcurrent multiscale approach for hyperelastic heterogeneous microstructures analysis

This paper is devoted to the computational nonlinear stochastic homogenization of a hyperelastic heterogeneous microstructure using a nonconcurrent multiscale approach. The geometry of the microstructure is random. The nonconcurrent multiscale approach for micro‐macro nonlinear mechanics is extended to the stochastic case. Because the nonconcurrent multiscale approach is based on the use of a tensorial decomposition, which is then submitted to the curse of dimensionality, we perform an analysis with respect to the stochastic dimension. The technique uses a database describing the strain energy density function (potential) in both the macroscopic Cauchy green strain space and the geometrical random parameters domain. Each value of the potential is numerically computed by means of the FEM on an elementary cell whose geometry is given by the random parameters and the corresponding macroscopic strains being prescribed as boundary conditions. An interpolation scheme is finally introduced to obtain a continuous explicit form of the potential, which, by derivation, allows to evaluate the macroscopic stress and elastic tangent tensors during the macroscopic structural computations. Two numerical examples are presented. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A mathematical homogenization perspective of virial stress

A continuum stress measure is derived from molecular dynamics equations using a generalized mathematical homogenization (GMH) theory. GMH consists of solving a coupled fine‐scale (atomistic unit cell) problem and a coarse‐scale (continuum) problem. The fine‐scale problem derived can be interpreted as a molecular statics (at 0 K) problem, where the coarse‐scale problem derived is a constitutive law‐free continuum equation, which calculates the Cauchy stress directly from atomistics. The continuum stress derived is compared to various versions of the virial stress formula. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On computational homogenization of microscale crack propagation

The effective response of microstructures undergoing crack propagation is studied by homogenizing the response of statistical volume elements (SVEs). Because conventional boundary conditions (Dirichlet, Neumann and strong periodic) all are inaccurate when cracks intersect the SVE boundary, we herein use first order homogenization to compare the performance of these boundary conditions during the initial stage of crack propagation in the microstructure, prior to macroscopic localization. Using weakly periodic boundary conditions that lead to a mixed formulation with displacements and boundary tractions as unknowns, we can adapt the traction approximation to the problem at hand to obtain better convergence with increasing SVE size. In particular, we show that a piecewise constant traction approximation, which has previously been shown to be efficient for stationary cracks, is more efficient than the conventional boundary conditions in terms of convergence also when crack propagation occurs on the microscale. The performance of the method is demonstrated by examples involving grain boundary crack propagation modelled by conventional cohesive interface elements as well as crack propagation modelled by means of the extended finite element method in combination with the concept of material forces. © 2016 The Authors. International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.     

Many-scale finite strain computational homogenization via Concentric Interpolation

A method for efficient computational homogenization of hyperelastic materials under finite strains is proposed. Multiple spatial scales are homogenized in a recursive procedure: starting on the smallest scale, few high fidelity FE computations are performed. The resulting fields of deformation gradient fluctuations are processed by a snapshot POD resulting in a reduced basis (RB) model. By means of the computationally efficient RB model, a large set of samples of the homogenized material response is created. This data set serves as the support for the Concentric Interpolation (CI) scheme, interpolating the effective stress and stiffness. Then, the same procedure is invoked on the next larger scale with this CI surrogating the homogenized material law. A three-scale homogenization process is completed within few hours on a standard workstation. The resulting model is evaluated within minutes on a laptop computer in order to generate fourth-scale results. Open source code is provided.     

Computational homogenization for heat conduction in heterogeneous solids

In this paper, a multi‐scale analysis method for heat transfer in heterogeneous solids is presented. The principles of the method rely on a two‐scale computational homogenization approach which is applied successfully for the stress analysis of multi‐phase solids under purely mechanical loading. The present paper extends this methodology to heat conduction problems. The flexibility of the method permits one to take into account local microstructural heterogeneities and thermal anisotropy, including non‐linearities which might arise at some stage of the thermal loading history. The resulting complex microstructural response is transferred back to the macro level in a consistent manner. A proper macro to micro transition is established in terms of the applied boundary conditions and likewise a micro to macro transition is formulated in the form of consistent averaging relations. Imposition of boundary conditions and extraction of macroscopic quantities are elaborated in detail. A nested finite element solution procedure is outlined, and the effectiveness of the approach is demonstrated by some illustrative example problems. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mathematical homogenization theory for electroactive continuum

Two‐scale continuum equations are derived for heterogeneous continua with full nonlinear electromechanical coupling using nonlinear mathematical homogenization theory. The resulting coarse‐scale electromechanical continuum equations are free of coarse‐scale constitutive equations. The unit cell (or representative volume element) is subjected to the overall mechanical and electric field extracted from the solution of the coarse‐scale problem and is solved for arbitrary constitutive equations of fine‐scale constituents. The proposed method can be applied to analyze the behavior of electroactive materials with heterogeneous fine‐scale structure and can pave the way forward for designing advanced electroactive materials and devices. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.