• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.1085-1103
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• 2016

The present paper is aimed to evaluate and compare the effective elastic properties of CNT- and graphene-based nanocomposites using 3-D nanoscale representative volume element (RVE) based on continuum mechanics using finite element method (FEM). Different periodic displacement boundary conditions are applied to the FEM model of the RVE to evaluate various elastic constants. The effects of the matrix material, the volume fraction and the length of reinforcements on the elastic properties are also studied. Results predicted are validated with the analytical and/or semiempirical results and the available results in the literature. Although all elastic stiffness properties of CNT- and graphene-based nanocomposites are found to be improved compared to the matrix material, but out-of-plane and in-plane stiffness properties are better improved in CNT- and graphene-based nanocomposites, respectively. It is also concluded that long nanofillers (graphene as well as CNT) are more effective in increasing the normal elastic moduli of the resulting nanocomposites as compared to the short length, but the values of shear moduli, except $G_{23}$ of CNT nanocomposite, of nanocomposites are slightly improved in the case of short length nanofillers (i.e., CNT and graphene).

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.243-256
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• 2022

A coupled finite element method (FEM)-boundary element method (BEM) for analyzing the hydroelastic response of functionally graded carbon nanotube-reinforced composite (FG-CNTRC) floating plates under moving loads is firstly introduced in this article. For that aim, the plate displacement field is described utilizing a generalized shear deformation theory (GSDT)-based FEM, meanwhile the linear water-wave theory (LWWT)-relied BEM is employed for the fluid hydrodynamic modeling. Both computational domains of the plate and fluid are coincidentally discretized into 4-node Hermite elements. Accordingly, the C1-continuous plate element model can be simply captured owing to the inherent feature of third-order Hermite polynomials. In addition, this model is also completely free from shear correction factors, although the shear deformation effects are still taken into account. While the fluid BEM can easily handle the free surface with a lower computational effort due to its boundary integral performance. Material properties through the plate thickness follow four specific CNT distributions. Outcomes gained by the present FEM-BEM are compared with those of previously released papers including analytical solutions and experimental data to validate its reliability. In addition, the influences of CNT volume fraction, different CNT configurations, water depth, and load speed on the hydroelastic behavior of FG-CNTRC plates are also examined.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.57 no.5
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• pp.897-920
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• 2016

The objective is to determine the mechanical properties of the composites formed in two types, theoretically. The first composite includes micro-particles in a matrix while the second involves long, thin fibers. A fictitious, homogeneous, linear-elastic and isotropic single material named as effective material is considered during calculation which is based on the equality of the strain energies of the composite and effective material under the same loading conditions. The procedure is carried out with volume integrals considering a unique strain energy in a body. Particularly, the effective elastic shear modulus has been calculated exactly for small-particle composites by the same procedure in order to determine of bulk modulus thereof. Additionally, the transverse shear modulus of fiber reinforced composites has been obtained through a simple approach leading to the practical equation. The results have been compared not only with the outcomes in the literature obtained by different method but also with those of finite element analysis performed in this study.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.315-334
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• 2015

This study's primary aim is to check the existence of a representative volume element for granular materials and determine the link between the properties (responses) of macro structures and the size of the discrete particle assembly used to represent a constitutive relation in a two-scale model. In our two-scale method the boundary value problem on the macro level was solved using finite element method, based on the Cosserat continuum; the macro stresses and modulus were obtained using a solution of discrete particle assemblies at certain element integration points. Meanwhile, discrete particle assemblies were solved using discrete element method under boundary conditions provided by the macro deformation. Our investigations focused largely on the size effects of the discrete particle assembly and the radius of the particle on macro properties, such as deformation stiffness, bearing capacity and the residual strength of the granular structure. According to the numerical results, we suggest fitting formulas linking the values of different macro properties (responses) and size of discrete particle assemblies. In addition, this study also concerns the configuration and displacement fluctuation of discrete particle assemblies on the micro level, accompanied with the evolution of bearing capacity and deformation on the macro level.

• Composites Research
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2012

In order to predict the thermoelastic behavior of porous composites, poroelastic parameters are measured by using micromechanics-based finite element models. The expanding deformation caused by pore pressure, and the degradation of homogenized elastic moduli with pores are calculated for the assessment of the poroelastic parameters. Various representative volume elements considering the shape, size, and array pattern of pores are modeled and analyzed by a finite element method. The effects of porosity and material anisotropy, and the distribution of stain energy density are investigated carefully. In addition, the measured poroelastic parameters are verified by predicting the thermo-pore-elastic behavior of carbon/phenolic composites.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.100-106
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• 2006

NiTi alloy known as its shape memory effect also has superelastic characteristic, which makes it possible to be elastic under large deformation. Since the tensile strength of the alloy is very high and density is low compared to carbon steel, it can be applied to lightweight structural design. In order to design structures with shape memory alloy, finite element analysis is used and a constitutive algorithm based on Aurrichio's model is added to LS-DYNA as a user subroutine. Explicit time integration and shell element formulation are used to simulate thin-walled structures. The algorithm uses Drucker-Prager type loading condition to calculate martensite volume fraction during the transformation. The implemented algorithm is verified in uni-axial loading condition and martensite phase transformation can be detected well with the algorithm. In this study, as a energy absorbing structure, thin-walled tube is modeled with finite elements and the deformation behavior is studied. Simulation results has shown that the martensite transformation was generated in loading condition. After plastic deformation reached, the load decreases linearly without reverse martensite transformation.

• Journal of applied mathematics & informatics
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• v.11 no.1_2
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• pp.215-241
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• 2003

In this paper, solute transport in heterogeneous aquifers using a modified Fokker-Planck equation (MFPE) is investigated. This newly developed mathematical model is characterised with a time-, scale-dependent dispersivity. A two-dimensional finite volume quadrilateral mesh method (FVQMM) based on a quadrilateral background interpolation mesh is developed for analysing the model. The FVQMM transforms the coupled non-linear partial differential equations into a system of differential equations, which is solved using backward differentiation formulae of order one through five in order to advance the solution in time. Three examples are presented to demonstrate the model verification and utility. Henry's classic benchmark problem is used to show that the MFPE captures significant features of transport phenomena in heterogeneous porous media including enhanced transport of salt in the upper layer due to its parameters that represent the dependence of transport processes on scale and time. The time and scale effects are investigated. Numerical results are compared with published results on the some problems.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.68 no.3
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• pp.299-312
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• 2018

In this paper, an extended finite element method is proposed to analyze both geometric and material non-linear behavior of general Functionally Graded Material (FGM) plate-shell type structures. A user defined subroutine (UMAT) is developed and implemented in Abaqus/Standard to study the elastoplastic behavior of the ceramic particle-reinforced metal-matrix FGM plates-shells. The standard quadrilateral 4-nodes shell element with three rotational and three translational degrees of freedom per node, S4, is extended in the present study, to deal with elasto-plastic analysis of geometrically non-linear FGM plate-shell structures. The elastoplastic material properties are assumed to vary smoothly through the thickness of the plate-shell type structures. The nonlinear approach is based on Mori-Tanaka model to underline micromechanics and locally determine the effective FGM properties and self-consistent method of Suquet for the homogenization of the stress-field. The elasto-plastic behavior of the ceramic/metal FGM is assumed to follow Ludwik hardening law. An incremental formulation of the elasto-plastic constitutive relation is developed to predict the tangent operator. In order to to highlight the effectiveness and the accuracy of the present finite element procedure, numerical examples of geometrically non-linear elastoplastic functionally graded plates and shells are presented. The effects of the geometrical parameters and the volume fraction index on nonlinear responses are performed.

• Composites Research
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.329-334
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• 2023

The classical multiscale finite element (FE² ) method involves iterative calculations of micro-boundary value problems for representative volume elements at every integration point in macro scale, making it a computationally time and data storage space. To overcome this, we developed the data-driven multiscale analysis method based on the mean-field homogenization (MFH). Data-driven computational mechanics (DDCM) analysis is a model-free approach that directly utilizes strain-stress datasets. For performing multiscale analysis, we efficiently construct a strain-stress database for the microstructure of composite materials using mean-field homogenization and conduct data-driven computational mechanics simulations based on this database. In this paper, we apply the developed multiscale analysis framework to an example, confirming the results of data-driven computational mechanics simulations considering the microstructure of a hyperelastic composite material. Therefore, the application of data-driven computational mechanics approach in multiscale analysis can be applied to various materials and structures, opening up new possibilities for multiscale analysis research and applications.

• Composites Research
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.251-259
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• 2018

In this paper, statistical volume element modeling method was developed for multi-scale progressive failure analysis of fiber reinforced composite materials. Big-size statistical volume elements (BSVEs) was considered to minimize the size effect in the micro-scale, by including as many fibers as possible. For that purpose, a mesh cutting method is suggested and adapted into the fiber model generator that creates finite element domain rapidly. The fiber defect model was also developed based on the experimental distribution of the fiber strength. The size effects from the local load sharing (LLS) are evaluated by increasing the fiber inclusion in the micro-scale model. Finally, continuum damage mechanics (CDM) model to the fiber direction was extracted from numerical analysis on BSVEs. And it was compared with strength prediction from typical representative volume element (RVE) model.