Nous proposons dans cette thèse diverses approches, pour l'amélioration de la modélisation et la simulation multi-échelle du comportement des matériaux composites. La modélisation précise et fiable de la réponse mécanique des matériaux composite demeure un défi majeur. L'objectif de ce travail est de développer des méthodologies simplifiées et basées sur des techniques d'homogénéisation existantes (numériques et analytiques) pour une prédiction efficiente du comportement non-linéaire de ces matériaux. Dans un premier temps un choix à été porté sur les techniques d'homogénéisation par champs moyens pour étudier le comportement élastoplastique et les phénomènes d'endommagement ductile dans les composites. Bien que restrictives, ces techniques demeurent les meilleures en termes de coût de calcul et d'efficacité. Deux méthodes ont été investiguées à cet effet: le Schéma Incrémental Micromécanique (SIM) en modélisation mono-site et le modèle Mori-Tanaka en modélisation multi-site (MTMS). Dans le cas d'étude du comportement élastoplastique, nous avons d'une part montré et validé par la méthode des éléments finis que la technique d'homogénéisation SIM donne un résultat plus précis de la modélisation des composites à fraction volumique élevée que celle de Mori-Tanaka, fréquemment utilisée dans la littérature. D'autre part nous avons étendu le modèle de Mori-Tanaka (M-T) généralement formulé en mono-site à la formulation en multi-site pour l'étude du comportement élastoplastique des composites à microstructure ordonnée. Cette approche montre que la formulation en multi-site produit des résultats concordants avec les solutions éléments finis et expérimentales. Dans la suite de nos travaux, le modèle d'endommagement ductile de Lemaître-Chaboche a été intégré à la modélisation du comportement élastoplastique dans les composites dans une modélisation multi-échelle basée sur le SIM. Cette dernière étude révèle la capacité du modèle SIM à capter les effets d'endommagement dans le matériau. Cependant, la question relative à la perte d'ellipticité n'a pas été abordée. Pour finir nous développons un outil d'homogénéisation numérique basé sur la méthode d'éléments finis multi-échelles (EF2) en 2D et 3D que nous introduisons dans le logiciel conventionnel ABAQUS via sa subroutine UMAT. Cette méthode (EF2) offre de nombreux avantages tels que la prise en compte de la non-linéarité du comportement et de l'évolution de la microstructure soumise à des conditions de chargement complexes. Les cas linéaires et non-linéaires ont été étudiés. L'avantage de cette démarche originale est la possibilité d'utilisation de toutes les ressources fournies par ce logiciel (un panel d'outils d'analyse ainsi qu'une librairie composée de divers comportements mécaniques, thermomécaniques ou électriques etc.) pour l'étude de problèmes multi-physiques. Ce travail a été validé dans le cas linéaire sur un exemple simple de poutre en flexion et comparé à la méthode multi-échelle ANM (Nezamabadi et al. (2009)). Un travail approfondi sera nécessaire ultérieurement avec des applications sur des problèmes non-linaires mettant en évidence la valeur de l'outil ainsi développé / We propose in this thesis several approaches for improving the multiscale modeling and simulation of composites’ behavior. Accurate and reliable modeling of the mechanical response of composite materials remains a major challenge. The objective of this work is to develop simplified methodologies based on existing homogenization techniques (numerical and analytical) for efficient prediction of nonlinear behavior of these materials. First choice has been focused on the Mean-field homogenization methods to study the elasto-plastic behavior and ductile damage phenomena in composites. Although restrictive, these techniques remain the best in terms of computational cost and efficiency. Two methods were investigated for this purpose: the Incremental Scheme Micromechanics (IMS) in One-site modeling and the Mori-Tanaka model in multi-site modeling (MTMS). In the framework of elastoplasticity, we have shown and validated by finite element method that the IMS homogenization results are more accurate, when dealing with high volume fraction composites, than the Mori-Tanaka model, frequently used in the literature. Furthermore, we have extended the Mori-Tanaka's model (MT) generally formulated in One-site to the multi-site formulation for the study of elasto-plastic behavior of composites with ordered microstructure. This approach shows that the multi-site formulation produces consistent results with respect to finite element and experimental solutions. In the continuation of our research, the Lemaître-Chaboche ductile damage model has been included to the study of elasto-plastic behavior in composite through the IMS homogenization. This latest investigation demonstrates the capability of the IMS model to capture damage effects in the material. However, the issue on the loss of ellipticity was not addressed. Finally we develop a numerical homogenization tool based on computational homogenization. This novel numerical tool works with 2D and 3D structure and is fully integrated in the conventional finite element code ABAQUS through its subroutine UMAT. The (FE2) method offers the advantage of being extremely accurate and allows the handling of more complex physics and geometrical nonlinearities. Linear and non-linear cases were studied. In addition, its combination with ABAQUS allows the use of major resources provided by this software (a panel of toolbox for various mechanical, thermomechanical and electrical analysis) for the study of multi-physics problems. This work was validated in the linear case on a two-scale analysis in bending and compared to the multi-scale method ANM (Nezamabadi et al. (2009)). Extensive work will be needed later with applications on non-linear problems to highlight the value of the developed tool

Optimization of compaction in granular material without the use of traditional ground improvement methods may be possible by optimizing the percentage of finer material and the median grain size ratio in binary soil mixtures. In this study, the median grain size ratio D50/d50 was explored as a fundamental parpmeter affecting the compaction characteristics of binary mixes made from natural sands as opposed to singular measurements such as fines content and mean grain size traditionally used to represent granular soils. A total of 18 binary granular mixes were synthetically generated from natural sands obtained from Longboat Key, Florida and evaluated through grain size analysis, laboratory compaction and determination of relative density. Results indicate that the D50/d50 ratio shows promise as a fundamental parameter for compaction optimization in binary mixes with values exceeding six approaching the densest packing configuations. / by Tara Devine Brenner. / Thesis (M.S.C.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

The properties of composite materials in which spherical inclusions are embedded in a matrix of some kind, have been studied for many decades and many analytical models have been developed which measure these properties. There has been a steady progression in the complexity of models over the years, providing greater insight into the nature of these materials and improving the accuracy in the measurement of their properties. Some of the properties with which this thesis is concerned are, the elastic, thermal and electrical properties of such composites. The size of the spherical inclusion which acts as the reinforcing phase, has a major effect on the overall properties of composite materials. Once an inclusion is embedded into a matrix, a third region of different properties between the inclusion and matrix is known to develop which is called the interphase. It is well known in the composite community that the smaller the inclusion is, the larger the interphase region which develops around it. Therefore, with the introduction of nanoparticles as the preferred reinforcing phase for some composites, the interphase has a major effect on its properties. It is the aim of this thesis to consider the role of the interphase on the properties of composites by modeling it as an inhomogeneous region. There is much scientific evidence to support the fact that the interphase has an inhomogeneous nature and many papers throughout the thesis are cited which highlight this. By modeling the inhomogeneous properties by arbitrary mathematical functions, results are obtained for the various properties in terms of these general functions. Some specific profiles for the inhomogeneous region are considered for each property in order to demonstrate and test the models against some established results.

Wood fibres can be used as reinforcement in plastics for load carrying purposes. Some advantages compared with conventional man-made fibres are that wood fibres come from a renewable resource, have high specific stiffness and strength, are generally less hazardous to health, biodegradable, and can be manufactured at low cost and high volumes. A clear disadvantage with cellulose-based materials for structural use is their dimensional instability in humid environments. The hygroelastic properties are of high importance in materials development of improved wood-fibre composites. This work deals with the stiffness and hygroexpansion of wood fibres for composite materials. The long-term aim is to design engineered wood fibre composites based on better basic knowledge of wood fibres. Mechanistic models have been used to link the fibrous microstructure with macroscopic composite engineering properties. The properties have been characterized experimentally for various wood-fibre composites and their fibre-mat preforms, by means of curvature measurements at various levels of relative humidity, as well as tensile and compressive tests. From these test results and microstructural characterization, the longitudinal Young’s modulus and transverse coefficient of hygroexpansion of wood fibres were identified by inverse modelling. Some effects of various pulp processes and fibre modifications on the elastic properties of the fibre were observed, illustrating how the mixed experimental-modelling approaches can be used in more efficient materials screening and selection. An improved micromechanical analysis for wood-fibre composites has been presented. The model is more appropriate to combine with laminate analogy, to link fibre properties on the microscale to the macroscopic composite properties and vice versa. It also offers the possibility to include the effects of ultrastructure since it can account for an arbitrary number of phases. An approach to model ultrastructure-fibre property relations has been demonstrated. It includes analytical modelling of multilayered cylindrical fibres as well as finite element modelling of fibres with irregular geometry characterized with microscopy. Both approaches are useful and could be combined with experiments to reveal insights that can pave way for a firmer link between the wood fibre ultrastructure and wood fibre properties. / QC 20100914

The structure and interactions of the defects in material on an atomistic scale ulti- mately determine the macroscopic behavior of that material. A fundamental understanding of how defects behave is essential for predicting materials failure; this is especially true in an irradiated environment, where defects are created at higher than average rates. In this work, we present two different atomistic scale computational studies of defects in body centered cubic (bcc) iron. First, the interaction energies between screw dislocations (line defects) and various kinds of point defects will be calculated, using anisotropic linear elastic theory and atomistic simulation, and compared. Second, the energetics and behavior of hydrogen and hydrogen-helium gas bubbles will be investigated.

This study introduces a new three-dimensional (3D) multi-scale constitutive framework for the nonlinear viscoelastic analysis of laminated and pultruded composites. Two previously developed nonlinear micromechanical models for unidirectional and in-plane random composite layers are modified to include time-dependent and nonlinear behavior. A new recursive-iterative numerical integration method is introduced for the Schapery nonlinear viscoelastic model and is used to model the isotropic matrix subcells in the two micromodels. In addition, a sublaminate model is used to provide for a through-thickness 3D nonlinear equivalent continuum of a layered medium. The fiber medium is considered as transversely isotropic and linear elastic. Incremental micromechanical formulations of the above three micromodels are geared towards the time integration scheme in the matrix phase. New iterative numerical algorithms with predictor-corrector type steps are derived and implemented for each micromodel to satisfy both the constitutive and homogenization equations. Experimental creep tests are performed for off-axis pultruded specimens in order to calibrate and examine the predictions of the constitutive framework for the multi-axial nonlinear viscoelastic response. Experimental creep data, available in the literature, is also used to validate the micromodel formulation for laminated composite materials. Nonlinear viscoelastic effects at the matrix level, such as aging, temperature, and moisture effects can be easily incorporated in the constitutive framework. The multi-scale constitutive framework is implemented in a displacement-based finite element (FE) code for the analysis of laminated and pultruded structures. Several examples are presented to demonstrate the coupled multi-scale material and structural analysis.

The present work provides a micromechanics approach based on the generalized self-consistent composite cylinders method as a non-Eshelby approach towards for assessing the impact of carbon nanotubes on the multi-functional nature of nanocom-posites in which they are a constituent. Emphasis is placed on the effective elastic properties as well as electrical and thermal conductivities of nanocomposites con-sisting of randomly oriented single walled carbon nanotubes in epoxy. The effective elastic properties of aligned, as well as clustered and well-dispersed nanotubes in epoxy are discussed in the context of nanotube bundles using both the generalized self-consistent composite cylinders method as well as using computational microme-chanics techniques. In addition, interphase regions are introduced into the composite cylinders assemblages to account for the varying degrees of load transfer between nanotubes and the epoxy as a result of functionalization or lack thereof. Model pre-dictions for randomly oriented nanotubes both with and without interphase regions are compared to measured data from the literature with emphasis placed on assessing the bounds of the effective nanocomposite properties based on the uncertainty in the model input parameters. The generalized self-consistent composite cylinders model is also applied to model the electrical and thermal conductivity of carbon nanotube-epoxy nanocomposites. Recent experimental observations of the electrical conductivity of carbon nanotube polymer composites have identified extremely low percolation limits as well as a per-ceived double percolation behavior. Explanations for the extremely low percolation limit for the electrical conductivity of these nanocomposites have included both the creation of conductive networks of nanotubes within the matrix and quantum effects such as electron hopping or tunneling. Measurements of the thermal conductivity have also shown a strong dependence on nanoscale effects. However, in contrast, these nanoscale effects strongly limit the ability of the nanotubes to increase the thermal conductivity of the nanocomposite due to the formation of an interfacial thermal resistance layer between the nanotubes and the surrounding polymer. As such, emphasis is placed here on the incorporation of nanoscale effects, such as elec-tron hopping and interfacial thermal resistance, into the generalized self-consistent composite cylinder micromechanics model.

A novel and efficient methodology is developed for computer simulations of realistic two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) microstructures. The simulations incorporate realistic 2D and 3D complex morphologies/shapes, spatial patterns, anisotropy, volume fractions, and size distributions of the microstructural features statistically similar to those in the corresponding real microstructures. The methodology permits simulations of sufficiently large 2D as well as 3D microstructural windows that incorporate short-range (on the order of particle/feature size) as well as long-range (hundred times the particle/feature size) microstructural heterogeneities and spatial patterns at high resolution. The utility of the technique has been successfully demonstrated through its application to the 2D microstructures of the constituent particles in wrought Al-alloys, the 3D microstructure of discontinuously reinforced Al-alloy (DRA) composites containing SiC particles that have complex 3D shapes/morphologies and spatial clustering, and 3D microstructure of boron modified Ti-6Al-4V composites containing fine TiB whiskers and coarse primary TiB particles. The simulation parameters are correlated with the materials processing parameters (such as composition, particle size ratio, extrusion ratio, extrusion temperature, etc.), which enables the simulations of rational virtual 3D microstructures for the parametric studies on microstructure-properties relationships. The simulated microstructures have been implemented in the 3D finite-elements (FE)-based framework for simulations of micro-mechanical response and stress-strain curves. Finally, a new unbiased and assumption free dual-scale virtual cycloids probe for estimating surface area of 3D objects constructed by 2D serial section images is also presented.

A persistent challenge in the design of composite materials is the ability to fabricate materials that simultaneously display high stiffness and high loss factors for the creation of structural elements capable of passively suppressing vibro-acoustic energy. Relevant recent research has shown that it is possible to produce composite materials whose macroscopic mechanical stiffness and loss properties surpass those of conventional composites through the addition of trace amounts of materials displaying negative stiffness (NS) induced by phase transformation [R. S. Lakes, et al., Nature, 410, pp. 565-567, (2001)]. The present work investigates the ability to elicit NS behavior without employing physical phenomena such as inherent nonlinear material behavior (e.g., phase change or plastic deformation) or dynamic effects, but rather the controlled buckling of small-scale structural elements, metamaterials, embedded in a continuous viscoelastic matrix. To illustrate the effect of these buckled elements, a nonlinear hierarchical multiscale material model is derived which estimates the macroscopic stiffness and loss of a composite material containing pre-strained microscale structured inclusions. The nonlinear multiscale model is then utilized in a set-based hierarchical design approach to explore the design space over a wide range of inclusion geometries. Finally, prototype NS inclusions are fabricated using an additive manufacturing technique and tested to determine quasi-static inclusion stiffness which is compared with analytical predictions. / text

Shape memory alloys (SMAs) are widely used in a broad variety of applications in multiscale devices ranging from nano-actuators used in nano-electrical-mechanical systems (NEMS) to large energy absorbing elements in civil engineering applications. This research introduces a multiscale analysis for SMAs, particularly Nickel-Titanium alloys (NiTi). SMAs are studied in a variety of length scales ranging from macroscale to nanoscale. In macroscale, a phenomenological constitutive framework is adopted and developed by adding the effect of phase transformation latent heat. Analytical closed-form solutions are obtained for modeling the coupled thermomechanical behavior of various large polycrystalline SMA devices subjected to different loadings, including uniaxial loads, torsion, and bending. Thermomechanical responses of several SMA devices are analyzed using the introduced solutions and the results are validated by performing various experiments on some large SMA elements. In order to study some important properties of polycrystalline SMAs that the macroscopic phenomenological frameworks cannot capture, including the texture and intergranular effects in polycrystalline SMAs, a micromechanical framework with a realistic modeling of the grains based on Voronoi tessellations is used. The local form of the first law of thermodynamics is used and the energy balance relations for the polycrystalline SMAs are obtained. Generalized coupled thermomechanical governing equations considering the phase transformation latent heat are derived for polycrystalline SMAs. A three-dimensional finite element framework is used and different polycrystalline samples are modeled. By considering appropriate distributions of crystallographic orientations in the grains obtained from experimental texture measurements of NiTi samples the effects of texture and the tension-compression asymmetry on the thermomechanical response of polycrystalline SMAs are studied. The interaction between the stress state (tensile or compressive), number of grains, and the texture on the thermomechanical response of polycrystalline SMAs is also studied. For studying some aspects of the thermomechanical properties of SMAs that cannot be studied neither by the phenomenological constitutive models nor by the micromechanical models, molecular dynamics simulations are used to explore the martensitic phase transformation in NiTi alloys at the atomistic level. The martensite reorientation, austenite to martensite phase transformation, and twinning mechanisms in NiTi nanostructures are analyzed and the effect of various parameters including the temperature and size on the phase transformation at the atomistic level is studied. Results of this research provide insight into studying pseudoelasticity and shape memory response of NiTi alloys at different length scales and are useful for better understanding the solid-to-solid phase transformation at the atomistic level, and the effects of this transformation on the microstructure of polycrystal SMAs and the macroscopic response of these alloys.