Open Access

ARTICLE

An Elastic-Plastic Constitutive Equation Taking Account of Particle Size and Its Application to A Homogenized Finite Element Analysis of A Composite Material

Shuji Takashima¹, Michihiko Nakagaki², Noriyuki Miyazaki¹
1 Kyoto Univ., Sakyoku, Kyoto, Japan
2 Kyushu Institute of Technology, Iizuka, Fukuoka, Japan

Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences 2007, 20(3), 193-202. https://doi.org/10.3970/cmes.2007.020.193

Abstract

Composite materials have complicated microstructures. These microstructures affect the macroscopic deformation of composite materials. In the present study, we focus on the effect of particle size in a particle-dispersed composite material on the mechanical strength of the material. For this purpose, we derived a macroscopic elastic-plastic constitutive equation using a modified version of the Eshelby's equivalent inclusion method combined with the gradient plasticity. We incorporated this macroscopic elastic-plastic constitutive equation into a finite element program and performed a homogenized finite element analysis of a particle-dispersed composite material in which both the macroscopic and microscopic behaviors of the composite material were obtained. The present method successfully revealed the size effect in a particle-dispersed composite material, namely that its mechanical strength increases with a decrease in the particle size.

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Keywords

size effect, composite material, Eshelby's theory, gradient plasticity.

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