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Fiber orientation tensors (FOT) are widely used to approximate statistical orientation distributions of fibers within fiber-reinforced polymers. The design process of components made of such fiber-reinforced composites is usually accompanied by a virtual process chain. In this virtual process chain, process-induced FOT are computed in a flow simulation and transferred to the structural simulation. Within the structural simulation, effective macroscopic properties are identified based on the averaged information contained in the FOT. Solving the field equations in flow simulations as well as homogenization of effective stiffnesses necessitates the application of a closure scheme, computing higher-order statistical moments based on assumptions. Additionally, non-congruent spatial discretizations require an intermediate mapping operation. This mapping operation is required, if the discretization, i.e., mesh, of the flow simulation differs from the discretization of the structural simulation. The main objective of this work is to give an answer to the question: Does the sequence of closure and mapping influence the achieved results? It will turn out, that the order influences the result, raising the consecutive question: Which order is beneficial? Both questions are addressed by deriving a quantification of the closure-related uncertainty. The two possible sequences, mapping followed by closure and closure followed by mapping, yield strongly different results, with the magnitude of the deviation even exceeding the magnitude of a reference result. Graphical consideration reveals that for both transversely isotropic and planar FOT-input, invalid results occur if the mapping takes place prior to closure. This issue is retrieved by orientation averaging stiffness tensors. As a by-product, we explicitly define for the first time the admissible parameter space of orthotropic fourth-order fiber orientation tensors and define a distance measure in this parameter space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyamides can absorb or desorb water from or to their surrounding environment. The impact of this process is significant as water molecules lead locally to a swelling and a coupling of diffusion and deformation behavior. To model these phenomena, a strongly coupled chemo-mechanical (or diffuso-mechanical) model is required, considering both local water concentration and the viscoelastic material behavior of polyamide. In the present work, we derive and apply such a model to polyamide 6. A diffusion equation describing changes in water concentration is coupled to the balance of linear momentum in polyamide 6. The interaction between deformation and concentration is derived from thermodynamic considerations by introducing a free energy consisting of a mechanical and a chemical part. The mechanical part describes a linear viscoelastic model and includes chemical strains due to the presence of water molecules. The chemical part builds upon the theory of Flory and Huggins, that takes into account changes in enthalpy and entropy of mixing due to the interaction of polymer and water molecules. The coupling of deformation to water concentration arises due to a dependency of the water flux on the hydrostatic stress inside the polyamide. We successfully apply the derived model in Finite-Element simulations to predict the drying of polyamide 6 specimens without any coupling to mechanical loads. In addition, we reproduce experimentally obtained data from relaxation measurements, where the drying of polyamide specimens leads to an increase in relaxation modulus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A key challenge for the virtual characterization of components manufactured using short fiber-reinforced thermoplastics (SFRTs) is the inherent anisotropy which stems from the manufacturing process. To address this, a multi-scale approach is necessary, leveraging deep material networks (DMNs) as a micromechanical surrogate, for a one-stop solution when simulating SFRTs under highly nonlinear long-term load cases like creep and fatigue. Therefore, we extend the a priori fiber orientation tensor interpolation for quasi-static loading (Liu et al. in Intelligent multi-scale simulation based on process-guided composite database. arXiv:2003.09491, 2020; Gajek et al. in Comput Methods Appl Mech Eng 384:113,952, 2021; Meyer et al. in Compos Part B Eng 110,380, 2022) using DMNs with a posteriori approach. We also use the trained DMN framework to simulate the stiffness degradation under fatigue loading with a linear fatigue-damage law for the matrix. We evaluate the effectiveness of the interpolation approach for a variety of load classes using a dedicated fully coupled plasticity and creep model for the polymer matrix. The proposed methodology is validated through comparison with composite experiments, revealing the limitations of the linear fatigue-damage law. Therefore, we introduce a new power-law fatigue-damage model for the matrix in the micro-scale, leveraging the quasi-model-free nature of the DMN, i.e., it models the microstructure independent of the material models attached to the constituents of the microstructure. The DMN framework is shown to effectively extend material models and inversely identify model parameters based on composite experiments for all possible orientation states and variety of material models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An implementation of the crystal plasticity theory in the context of the multiphase-field method provides a numerically efficient tracking of evolving grain boundaries, modeled as diffuse interfaces. In literature, several approaches exist for the implementation of the plastic material behavior within the diffuse interface, based on interpolation, homogenization, or the mechanical jump conditions. Among these, only the jump condition approach exhibits an intrinsic relationship to the sharp interface (SI) theory. Therefore, in the work at hand, the implementation of the crystal plasticity theory within the jump condition approach, referred to as phase-specific plastic fields approach (PSPFA), is discussed in detail. The PSPFA is compared to the interpolation approach, referred to as common plastic fields approach (CPFA), using three-dimensional benchmark simulations of a bicrystal set-up. The comparison reveals that the PSPFA and SI coincide convincingly regarding the accumulated plastic slip and the Mises stress. In contrast, a significant deviation of CPFA and SI is observed both quantitatively and qualitatively, not only within the diffuse interface region, but throughout the complete simulation domain. A variation of the interface width illustrates that this observation can be transferred to the normal components of the total strain, even for smaller interface widths. Consequently, a quantitative estimate of the plastic material behavior, which is crucial for the prediction of the dynamic behavior of grain boundaries, is only provided by the PSPFA. The application of the crystal plasticity in the context of PSPFA to more complex microstructures is illustrated with respect to a periodic honeycomb-structure and an octotuple. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyamides serve as matrix material for fiber reinforced composites and are widely applied in many different engineering applications. In this context, they are exposed to various environmental influences ranging from temperature to humidity. Thus, the influence of these environmental conditions on the mechanical behavior and the associated implications on the performance of the material is of utmost importance. In this work, the thermoviscoelastic behavior of polyamide 6 (PA 6) for two equilibrium moisture contents is investigated. To this end, dynamic mechanical analysis tests with and without humidity control of the environmental chamber were performed. In terms of relaxation tests, the experimental results reveal drying effects and increased diffusion activities when the sample's equilibrium moisture content differs from the ambient humidity level within the testing chamber. Temperature-frequency tests quantify the humidity-induced shift of the glass transition temperature. The linear generalized Maxwell model (GMM) and time-temperature superposition are used to analyze the hydrothermal effects on the linear viscoelastic material properties and the onset of mechanical nonlinearity. Based on these investigations and findings, insight is gained on the humidity influence on the material properties and the limitations of linear thermoviscoelastic modeling. Furthermore, the computational construction of master curves and the parameter identification for a generalized Maxwell model are described in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In scientific studies, sheet metal is usually considered as a two-dimensional body. Thus, it is accepted that material properties are in most cases regarded homogeneous in thickness direction. However, a gradation of certain properties becomes apparent when going beyond the standard characterization methods for sheet metals, which can for example, influence the springback behavior and the thinning of the sheet after forming. Thus, the aim of this work is to further improve the prediction accuracy of springback after forming in simulations, by implementing several inhomogeneous properties over the sheet thickness in an existing material model. For this purpose, the entire procedure from the identification of the inhomogeneous properties for describing the gradation to the implementation in a numerical model and its validation by comparing experimental and simulated bending operations is carried out on a DC04 cold-forming steel in order to prove its influence on the springback behavior. It is shown that including graded material properties in simulations does indeed have an impact on the prediction quality of springback and that the information about inhomogeneous properties can be provided by existing characterization methods with a high local resolution like electron backscatter diffraction or X-ray stress analysis. In a further step, it was possible to validate the improvement in numerical accuracy by comparing the prediction of the springback angle from both the existing and the extended model with experimental bending results. Both the initial model as well as the model supplemented with the 3D properties provide a good prediction accuracy in the solution heat treated material state. For the predeformed material, however, the initial numerical model predicts a springback angle of about 13°, which deviates remarkably from the experimentally obtained mean value of about 17°. The extended model delivers a significantly improved accuracy in springback prediction in relation to the initial prediction (deviation of 4°) with a minor deviation of only about 0.8°, which proves the importance of considering the gradation of material properties in thickness direction for an overall higher dimensional accuracy of sheet metal products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The anisotropic elastic properties of injection molded composites are fundamentally coupled to the flow of the fiber suspension during mold-filling. Regarding the modeling of mold-filling processes, both a decoupled and a flow–fiber coupled approach are possible. In the latter, the fiber-induced viscous anisotropy is considered in the computation of the flow field. This in turn influences the evolution of the fiber orientation compared to the decoupled case. This study investigates how flow–fiber coupling in mold-filling simulation affects the stress field in the solid composite under load based on the final elastic properties after fluid–solid transition. Furthermore, the effects of Newtonian and non-Newtonian polymer matrix behavior are investigated and compared. The entire process is modeled micromechanically unified based on mean-field homogenization, both for the fiber suspension and for the solid composite. Different numerical stabilization methods of the mold-filling simulation are discussed in detail. Short glass fibers with a typical aspect ratio of 20 and a volume fraction of 20% are considered, embedded in polypropylene matrix material. The results show that the flow–fiber coupling has a large effect on the fiber orientation tensor in the range of over ± 30% with respect to the decoupled simulation. As a consequence, the flow–fiber coupling affects the stress field in the solid composite under load in the range of over ± 10%. In addition, the predictions based on a non-Newtonian modeling of the matrix fluid differ significantly from the Newtonian setup and thus the necessity to consider the shear-thinning behavior is justified in a quantifiable manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fiber-orientation tensors describe the relevant features of the fiber-orientation distribution compactly and are thus ubiquitous in injection-molding simulations and subsequent mechanical analyses. In engineering applications to date, the second-order fiber-orientation tensor is the basic quantity of interest, and the fourth-order fiber-orientation tensor is obtained via a closure approximation. Unfortunately, such a description limits the predictive capabilities of the modeling process significantly, because the wealth of possible fourth-order fiber-orientation tensors is not exploited by such closures, and the restriction to second-order fiber-orientation tensors implies artifacts. Closures based on the second-order fiber-orientation tensor face a fundamental problem – which fourth-order fiber-orientation tensors can be realized? In the literature, only necessary conditions for a fiber-orientation tensor to be connected to a fiber-orientation distribution are found. In this article, we show that the typically considered necessary conditions, positive semidefiniteness and a trace condition, are also sufficient for being a fourth-order fiber-orientation tensor in the physically relevant case of two and three spatial dimensions. Moreover, we show that these conditions are not sufficient in higher dimensions. The argument is based on convex duality and a celebrated theorem of D. Hilbert (1888) on the decomposability of positive and homogeneous polynomials of degree four. The result has numerous implications for modeling the flow and the resulting microstructures of fiber-reinforced composites, in particular for the effective elastic constants of such materials. Based on our findings, we show how to connect optimization problems on fourth-order fiber-orientation tensors to semi-definite programming. The proposed formulation permits to encode symmetries of the fiber-orientation tensor naturally. As an application, we look at the differences between orthotropic and general, i.e., triclinic, fiber-orientation tensors of fourth order in two and three spatial dimensions, revealing the severe limitations inherent to orthotropic closure approximations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this contribution, selected results from [1–3] are presented in a compact and simplified way. In addition, the variety of fiber orientation tensors is used to determine a maximum deviation of the direction‐dependent Young's modulus, which can arise if only second‐order directional information is included in a specific meanfield homogenization. Focusing on the special case of planar fiber distributions, the variety of fiber orientation tensors identified in [1] is considered as a design space. This design space is completely explored for the orientation‐averaging homogenization following [4], fixed material parameters and fixed fiber volume content. The possible directional dependence of the resulting effective stiffnesses is graphically presented using polar plots of the direction‐dependent Young's modulus. These polar plots are arranged on two‐dimensional slices within the parameter space of planar fourth‐order fiber orientation tensors. This gives a complete representation of the influence of the orientation tensor on the anisotropic stiffness tensor. Consequences of closure approximations, i.e., restriction to second‐order directional information, are demonstrated and motivate measurement of fourth‐order fiber orientation tensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep material networks (DMN) are a data‐driven homogenization approach that show great promise for accelerating concurrent two‐scale simulations. As a salient feature, DMNs are solely identified by linear elastic precomputations on representative volume elements. After parameter identification, DMNs act as surrogates for full‐field simulations of such volume elements with inelastic constituents. In this work, we investigate how the training on linear elastic data, i.e., how the choice of the loss function and the sampling of the training data, affects the accuracy of DMNs for inelastic constituents. We investigate linear viscoelasticity and derive a material‐informed sampling procedure for generating the training data and a loss function tailored to the problem at hand. These ideas improve the accuracy of an identified DMN and allow for significantly reducing the number of samples to be generated and labeled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermoplastic polyamides are used in many industrial areas due to their potential in lightweight applications. Polyamides serve as matrix material in fiber reinforced thermoplastics, for instance. The mechanical behavior of polyamides is characterized by pronounced viscoelastic effects that are strongly affected by environmental conditions like temperature or humidity. In this work, linear thermoviscoelastic behavior of polyamide 6 is considered. Viscoelastic behavior is modeled by the generalized Maxwell model while extended time‐temperature superposition is used to model temperature dependency. A temperature‐frequency sweep conducted by dynamic mechanical analysis serves as input for the model. By horizontal and vertical shifting, master curves of the loss factor, storage modulus, and loss modulus are obtained. Based on this, limitations of time‐temperature superposition and linear thermoviscoelastic modeling are discussed. Furthermore, it is shown that the horizontal shifts can be well approximated by the Williams‐Landel‐Ferry equation for temperatures above and below the glass transition temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fiber orientation tensors represent averaged measures of fiber orientations inside a microstructure. Although, orientation-dependent material models are commonly used to describe the mechanical properties of representative microstructure, the influence of changing or differing microstructure on the material response is rarely investigated systematically for directional measures which are more precise than second-order fiber orientation tensors. For the special case of planar orientation distributions, a set of admissible fiber orientation tensors of fourth-order is known. Fiber orientation distributions reconstructed from given orientation tensors are of interest both for numerical averaging schemes in material models and visualization of the directional information itself. Focusing on the special case of planar orientations, this paper draws the geometric picture of fiber orientation distribution functions reconstructed from fourth-order fiber orientation tensors. The developed methodology can be adopted to study the dependence of material models on planar fourth-order fiber orientation tensors. Within the set of admissible fiber orientation tensors, a subset of distinct tensors is identified. Advantages and disadvantages of the description of planar orientation states in two- or three-dimensional tensor frameworks are demonstrated. Reconstruction of fiber orientation distributions is performed by truncated Fourier series and additionally by deploying a maximum entropy method. The combination of the set of admissible and distinct fiber orientation tensors and reconstruction methods leads to the variety of reconstructed fiber orientation distributions. This variety is visualized by arrangements of polar plots within the parameter space of fiber orientation tensors. This visualization shows the influence of averaged orientation measures on reconstructed orientation distributions and can be used to study any simulation method or quantity which is defined as a function of planar fourth-order fiber orientation tensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For material modeling of microstructured media, an accurate characterization of the underlying microstructure is indispensable. Mathematically speaking, the overall goal of microstructure characterization is to find simple functionals which describe the geometric shape as well as the composition of the microstructures under consideration and enable distinguishing microstructures with distinct effective material behavior. For this purpose, we propose using Minkowski tensors, in general, and the quadratic normal tensor, in particular, and introduce a computational algorithm applicable to voxel‐based microstructure representations. Rooted in the mathematical field of integral geometry, Minkowski tensors associate a tensor to rather general geometric shapes, which make them suitable for a wide range of microstructured material classes. Furthermore, they satisfy additivity and continuity properties, which makes them suitable and robust for large‐scale applications. We present a modular algorithm for computing the quadratic normal tensor of digital microstructures. We demonstrate multigrid convergence for selected numerical examples and apply our approach to a variety of microstructures. Strikingly, the presented algorithm remains unaffected by inaccurate computation of the interface area. The quadratic normal tensor may be used for engineering purposes, such as mean field homogenization or as target value for generating synthetic microstructures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mean-field homogenization is an established and computationally efficient method estimating the effective linear elastic behavior of composites. In view of short-fiber reinforced materials, it is important to homogenize consistently during process simulation. This paper aims to comprehensively reflect and expand the basics of mean-field homogenization of anisotropic linear viscous properties and to show the parallelism to the anisotropic linear elastic properties. In particular, the Hill–Mandel condition, which is generally independent of a specific material behavior, is revisited in the context of boundary conditions for viscous suspensions. This study is limited to isothermal conditions, linear viscous and incompressible fiber suspensions and to linear elastic solid composites, both of which consisting of isotropic phases with phase-wise constant properties. In the context of homogenization of viscous properties, the fibers are considered as rigid bodies. Based on a chosen fiber orientation state, different mean-field models are compared with each other, all of which are formulated with respect to orientation averaging. Within a consistent mean-field modeling for both fluid suspensions and solid composites, all considered methods can be recommended to be applied for fiber volume fractions up to 10%. With respect to larger, industrial-relevant, fiber volume fractions up to 20%, the (two-step) Mori–Tanaka model and the lower Hashin–Shtrikman bound are well suited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep material networks (DMNs) are a recent multiscale technology which enable running concurrent multiscale simulations on industrial scale with the help of powerful surrogate models for the micromechanical problem. Classically, the parameters of the DMNs are identified based on linear elastic precomputations. Once the parameters are identified, DMNs may process inelastic material models and were shown to reproduce micromechanical full-field simulations with the original microstructure to high accuracy. The work at hand was motivated by creep loading of thermoplastic components with fiber reinforcement. In this context, multiple scales appear, both in space (due to the reinforcements) and in time (short- and long-term effects). We demonstrate by computational examples that the classical training strategy based on linear elastic precomputations is not guaranteed to produce DMNs whose long-term creep response accurately matches high-fidelity computations. As a remedy, we propose an inelastically informed early stopping strategy for the offline training of the DMNs. Moreover, we introduce a novel strategy based on a surrogate material model, which shares the principal nonlinear effects with the true model but is significantly less expensive to evaluate. For the problem at hand, this strategy enables saving significant time during the parameter identification process. We demonstrate that the novel strategy provides DMNs which reliably generalize to creep loading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we advocate using Bayesian techniques for inversely identifying material parameters for multiscale crystal plasticity models. Multiscale approaches for modeling polycrystalline materials may significantly reduce the effort necessary for characterizing such material models experimentally, in particular when a large number of cycles is considered, as typical for fatigue applications. Even when appropriate microstructures and microscopic material models are identified, calibrating the individual parameters of the model to some experimental data is necessary for industrial use, and the task is formidable as even a single simulation run is time consuming (although less expensive than a corresponding experiment). For solving this problem, we investigate Gaussian process based Bayesian optimization, which iteratively builds up and improves a surrogate model of the objective function, at the same time accounting for uncertainties encountered during the optimization process. We describe the approach in detail, calibrating the material parameters of a high-strength steel as an application. We demonstrate that the proposed method improves upon comparable approaches based on an evolutionary algorithm and performing derivative-free methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work is concerned with synthetic microstructure models of polycrystalline materials. Once a representation of the microstructure is generated, the individual grains need to be furnished with suitable crystal orientations, matching a specific crystal orientation distribution. We introduce a novel method for this task, which permits to prescribe the orientations based on tensorial Fourier coefficients. This compact representation gives rise to the texture coefficient optimization for prescribing orientations method, enabling the determination of representative orientations for digital polycrystalline microstructures. We compare the proposed method to established and dedicated algorithms in terms of the linear elastic as well as the non-linear plastic behavior of a polycrystalline material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fiber orientation tensors are established descriptors of fiber orientation states in (thermo-)mechanical material models for fiber-reinforced composites. In this paper, the variety of fourth-order orientation tensors is analyzed and specified by parameterizations and admissible parameter ranges. The combination of parameterizations and admissible parameter ranges allows for studies on the mechanical response of different fiber architectures. Linear invariant decomposition with focus on index symmetry leads to a novel compact hierarchical parameterization, which highlights the central role of the isotropic state. Deviation from the isotropic state is given by a triclinic harmonic tensor with simplified structure in the orientation coordinate system, which is spanned by the second-order orientation tensor. Material symmetries reduce the number of independent parameters. The requirement of positive-semi-definiteness defines admissible ranges of independent parameters. Admissible parameter ranges for transversely isotropic and planar cases are given in a compact closed form and the orthotropic variety is visualized and discussed in detail. Sets of discrete unit vectors, leading to selected orientation states, are given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bi-planar sliding is one of main instabilities for bedding rock slope and is mainly dominated by the geometrical and strength properties of the weak structural plane. Traditional stability evaluation combines limit equilibrium method (LEM) with shear strength reduction (SSR) to derive the deterministic safety factor against slope stability. However, considering the uncertainties inherent in the geometrical and strength properties of the weak structural plane, as well as the variations of rock mass properties, the safety factor of rock bedding slopes against bi-planar sliding cannot be deterministically calculated. This study proposes a framework for probabilistic assessment on rock bedding slope stability against bi-planar sliding. Surrogate model for factor of safety against bi-planar sliding from LEM and SSR is developed based on back-propagation neural network (BPNN). The BPNN model, together with the design variables is implemented into the Excel Spreadsheet First-Order Reliability Method for the reliability assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nonlinear mechanical behavior of viscoelastic materials is modeled based on the Schapery integral model containing internal variables. In this context, a new approach for the strain‐dependent material properties is introduced considering a one‐dimensional formulation with strain‐dependent nonlinear functions for an oscillatory load case. In addition to the viscoelastic storage and loss modulus, the higher order harmonic oscillations in the stress response are computed and compared to experimental data from Fourier transform rheology of Polyamide 6 (PA6). The comparison reveals a good agreement between the predictions of the nonlinear model and the experimental data for the higher harmonic intensity I2/1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We extend the FE-DMN method to fully coupled thermomechanical two-scale simulations of composite materials. In particular, every Gauss point of the macroscopic finite element model is equipped with a deep material network (DMN). Such a DMN serves as a high-fidelity surrogate model for full-field solutions on the microscopic scale of inelastic, non-isothermal constituents. Building on the homogenization framework of Chatzigeorgiou et al. (Int J Plast 81:18–39, 2016), we extend the framework of DMNs to thermomechanical composites by incorporating the two-way thermomechanical coupling, i.e., the coupling from the macroscopic onto the microscopic scale and vice versa, into the framework. We provide details on the efficient implementation of our approach as a user-material subroutine (UMAT). We validate our approach on the microscopic scale and show that DMNs predict the effective stress, the effective dissipation and the change of the macroscopic absolute temperature with high accuracy. After validation, we demonstrate the capabilities of our approach on a concurrent thermomechanical two-scale simulation on the macroscopic component scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obituary, in memoriam of Jürgen Zierep (1929-2021, Founding Editor of ACTA MECHANICA), accompanied by the previously unpublished note: "Mein Weg zu neuen naturwissenschaftlichen Erkenntnissen" by Jürgen Zierep: Professor em. Bei mir löst das durchaus keinen Triumph aus, denn ich weiß, dass der wissenschaftliche Erfolg manchmal mit einer Seelenanspannung verknüpft ist, die oft an die Grenze der Belastbarkeit reicht. Die Gleichungen oder das physikalische Modell werden I so i vereinfacht, dass die physikalisch wesentlichen Effekte noch enthalten sind, dabei aber die Gleichungen lösbar werden. Ich habe als heranwachsender junger Wissenschaftler das große Glück gehabt, das Vertrauen bedeutender akademischer Lehrer, die gleichzeitig hervorragende Wissenschaftler waren, zu genießen. [Extracted from the article]

In this work, a mathematical modeling of the elastic properties of cubic crystals with centrosymmetry at small scales by means of the Toupin–Mindlin anisotropic first strain gradient elasticity theory is presented. In this framework, two constitutive tensors are involved, a constitutive tensor of fourth-rank of the elastic constants and a constitutive tensor of sixth-rank of the gradient-elastic constants. First, 3 + 11 material parameters (3 elastic and 11 gradient-elastic constants), 3 characteristic lengths and 1 + 6 isotropy conditions are derived. The 11 gradient-elastic constants are given in terms of the 11 gradient-elastic constants in Voigt notation. Second, the numerical values of the obtained quantities are computed for four representative cubic materials, namely aluminum (Al), copper (Cu), iron (Fe) and tungsten (W) using an interatomic potential (MEAM). The positive definiteness of the strain energy density is examined leading to 3 necessary and sufficient conditions for the elastic constants and 7 ones for the gradient-elastic constants in Voigt notation. Moreover, 5 lattice relations as well as 8 generalized Cauchy relations for the gradient-elastic constants are derived. Furthermore, using the normalized Voigt notation, a tensor equivalent matrix representation of the two constitutive tensors is given. A generalization of the Voigt average toward the sixth-rank constitutive tensor of the gradient-elastic constants is given in order to determine isotropic gradient-elastic constants. In addition, Mindlin's isotropic first strain gradient elasticity theory is also considered offering through comparisons a deeper understanding of the influence of the anisotropy in a crystal as well as the increased complexity of the mathematical modeling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work is devoted to anisotropic continuum-damage mechanics in the quasi-static, isothermal, small-strain setting. We propose a framework for anisotropic damage evolution based on the compliance tensor as primary damage variable, in the context of generalized standard models for dissipative solids. Based on the observation that the Hookean strain energy density of linear elasticity is jointly convex in the strain and the compliance tensor, we design thermodynamically consistent anisotropic damage models that satisfy Wulfinghoff's damage-growth criterion and feature a convex free energy. The latter property permits obtaining mesh-independent results on component scale without the necessity of introducing gradients of the damage field. We introduce the concepts of stress-extraction tensors and damage-hardening functions, implicitly describing a rigorous damage-analogue of yield surfaces in elastoplasticity. These damage surfaces may be combined in a modular fashion and give rise to complex damage-degradation behavior. We discuss how to efficiently integrate Biot's equation implicitly, and show how to design specific stress-extraction tensors and damage-hardening functions based on Puck's anisotropic failure criteria. Last but not least we demonstrate the versatility of our proposed model and the efficiency of the integration procedure for a variety of examples of interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Anisotropic fiber-reinforced composites are used in lightweight construction, which is of great industrial relevance. During mold filling of fiber suspensions, the microstructural evolution of the local fiber arrangement and orientation distribution is determined by the local velocity gradient. Based on the Folgar–Tucker equation, which describes the evolution of the second-order fiber orientation tensor in terms of the velocity gradient, the present study addresses selected states of deformation rates that can locally occur in complex flow fields. For such homogeneous flows, exact solutions for the asymptotic fiber orientation states are derived and discussed based on the quadratic closure. In contrast to the existing literature, the derived exact solutions take into account the fiber-fiber interaction. The analysis of the asymptotic solutions relying upon the common quadratic closure shows disadvantages with respect to the predicted material symmetry, namely, the anisotropy is overestimated for strong fiber-fiber interaction. This motivates us to suggest a novel normalized fully symmetric quadratic closure. Two versions of this new closure are derived regarding the prediction of anisotropic properties and the fiber orientation evolution. The fiber orientation states determined with the new closure approach show an improved prediction of anisotropy in both effective viscous and elastic composite behaviors. In addition, the symmetrized quadratic closure has a simple structure that reduces the effort in numerical implementation compared to more elaborated closure schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Austenite–ferrite duplex steels generally consist of two differently textured polycrystalline phases with different glide mechanisms. For estimating the effective mechanical behavior of heterogeneous materials, there exist well established approaches, two of which are the classes of mean-field and full-field methods. In this work, the local fields resulting from these different approaches are compared using analytical calculations and full-field simulations. Duplex steels of various textures measured using X-ray diffraction are considered. Special emphasis is given to the influence of the crystallographic texture on the stress and strain distributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The substitution of energy based on fossil fuels in different sectors like household or traffic by electric energy saves CO2 of this specific sector due to decreased fossil fuel consumption. An important quantity is the additional CO2 emission ΔF(D¯,ΔD) due to an increased electric power demand ΔD for the average electricity power demand D¯. Commonly, the formula ΔF(D¯,ΔD)≈M(D¯)ΔD is used (called simplified formula), where M(D¯) represents mean average CO2 footprint. It is shown in the present manuscript, that the simplified formula may underestimate the CO2 footprint significantly if the average CO2 footprint depends on the average electricity power demand, which is the case for most of mixed partly renewable and partly non‐renewable electric energy systems. Therefore, the real CO2 emissions would outmatch those according to simplified easily by factor 2 in reality depending on the status of the electricity system. In order to establish a more precise calculation of the CO2 footprint, the general formula ΔF(D¯,ΔD)=D¯ΔM(D¯,ΔD)+ΔDM(D¯+ΔD) which is exact and contains the simplified formula as a special case, is derived in this article. The simplified formula requires an additional term that takes into account the change of the mean average CO2 footprint ΔM depending on the electricity power demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present work discusses the impact of the back coupling of the fiber orientation distribution on the base flow and on the fiber orientation itself during mold filling simulations. Flows through a channel and over a backward-facing step are investigated. Different closure approximations are considered for modeling the flow-induced evolution of anisotropy. The results corresponding to the decoupled approach, in which the effect of fibers on local fluid properties is neglected, build the basis of comparison. The modeling is limited to a laminar, incompressible, and isothermal flow of a fiber suspension consisting of rigid short fibers suspended in an isotropic Newtonian matrix fluid. A linear, anisotropic constitutive law is used in combination with a uniform fiber volume fraction of 10% and an aspect ratio of 10. To evaluate the impact of back coupling and of different closure methods in view of the manufactured solid composite the resulting anisotropic elastic properties are investigated based on the Mori–Tanaka method combined with an orientation average scheme. Relative to the range [0, 1] the pointwise difference in fiber orientation between the decoupled and the coupled approach is found to be ± 5 % in the channel and ± 30 % in the backward-facing step, respectively. The viscosity and the elasticity tensor show both significant flow-induced anisotropies as well as a strong dependence on closure and coupling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Classical solution methods in fast Fourier transform‐based computational micromechanics operate on, either, compatible strain fields or equilibrated stress fields. By contrast, polarization schemes are primal‐dual methods whose iterates are neither compatible nor equilibrated. Recently, it was demonstrated that polarization schemes may outperform the classical methods. Unfortunately, their computational power critically depends on a judicious choice of numerical parameters. In this work, we investigate the extension of polarization methods by Anderson acceleration and demonstrate that this combination leads to robust and fast general‐purpose solvers for computational micromechanics. We discuss the (theoretically) optimum parameter choice for polarization methods, describe how Anderson acceleration fits into the picture, and exhibit the characteristics of the newly designed methods for problems of industrial scale and interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermomechanical couplings are present in many materials and should therefore be considered in multiscale approaches. Specific cases of thermomechanical behavior are the isothermal and the adiabatic regime, in which the behavior of real materials differs. Based on the consistent asymptotic homogenization framework for thermomechanically coupled generalized standard materials, the present work is devoted to computing the effective thermomechanical behavior of composite materials in the context of fast Fourier transform (FFT)‐based micromechanics. Exploiting the homogeneity of the temperature on the microscale, we develop a fast implicit staggered solution scheme for the coupled problem, which is compatible to existing strain‐based micromechanics solvers. Due to its implicit formulation, the algorithm permits large time steps for computations involving strong thermomechanical coupling. We investigate the performance of modern FFT‐based algorithms combined with the proposed thermomechanical solution strategy. In this context, the Barzilai–Borwein method is identified as particularly efficient, inducing only a small overhead compared with the traditional isothermal setting. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the presented approach for short‐fiber reinforced composites with viscoelastic matrix behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work investigates the capabilities of anisotropic theory-based, purely data-driven and hybrid approaches to model the homogenized constitutive behavior of cubic lattice metamaterials exhibiting large deformations and buckling phenomena. The effective material behavior is assumed as hyperelastic, anisotropic and finite deformations are considered. A highly flexible analytical approach proposed by Itskov (Int J Numer Methods Eng 50(8): 1777–1799, 2001) is taken into account, which ensures material objectivity and fulfillment of the material symmetry group conditions. Then, two non-intrusive data-driven approaches are proposed, which are built upon artificial neural networks and formulated such that they also fulfill the objectivity and material symmetry conditions. Finally, a hybrid approach combing the approach of Itskov (Int J Numer Methods Eng 50(8): 1777–1799, 2001) with artificial neural networks is formulated. Here, all four models are calibrated with simulation data of the homogenization of two cubic lattice metamaterials at finite deformations. The data-driven models are able to reproduce the calibration data very well and reproduce the manifestation of lattice instabilities. Furthermore, they achieve superior accuracy over the analytical model also in additional test scenarios. The introduced hyperelastic models are formulated as general as possible, such that they can not only be used for lattice structures, but for any anisotropic hyperelastic material. Further, access to the complete simulation data is provided through the public repository https://github.com/CPShub/sim-data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The failure of engineering slopes may cause great property loss and casualties, against which the slope deformation monitoring and instrumentation are needed. To investigate the relationship between safety factors and the displacements/strains of slopes, ten synthetic numerical models with different slope heights, slope angles, ranges of loading and soil parameters were designed and tested via finite difference code FLAC. By applying incremental load on the top of slope, the distribution of strain field and safety factor of slope were analyzed. The results indicated that there are three different modes of strain development inside the slope under uniform strip loading. During failure progress, the factors of safety and the corresponding total strain amounts at different loading stages have been analyzed. Based on the results, a modified empirical formula relating safety factor to the average maximum horizontal strain was proposed, which can be used as a theoretical guidance for preliminary slope stability check based on the instrumented strains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fiber-reinforced polymers contribute significantly to weight-reducing components for various industrial applications. A discontinuous glass fiber-reinforced thermoset resin is considered which is produced by the sheet molding compound (SMC) process. Related to the production process, the samples considered in this work exhibit an anisotropic fiber orientation distribution which highly affects the thermomechanical properties. The thermoviscoelastic material behavior of three selected samples is characterized by means of dynamic mechanical analysis. These tests show the temperature-dependent elastic modulus and the glass transition of the composite. Measurements of the thermal expansion of the SMC composite provide data on the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE). These experimental investigations provide data for the thermoelastic material modeling. Aiming at the prediction of the effective thermal and mechanical properties, a Hashin–Shtrikman-based homogenization method is presented. Based on an eigenstrain formulation, the effective Young's modulus and CTE are computed in two steps. Moreover, the mean-field method is given in dependence of a variable reference stiffness allowing to tailor the approach to the material system. The influence of this variable reference stiffness on the effective quantities as well as the predicted behavior is analyzed with respect to the experiments. The presented numerical results are in good agreement with the experimental data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mean-field methods are a common procedure for characterizing random heterogeneous materials. However, they typically provide only mean stresses and strains, which do not always allow predictions of failure in the phases since exact localization of these stresses and strains requires exact microscopic knowledge of the microstructures involved, which is generally not available. In this work, the maximum entropy method pioneered by Kreher and Pompe (Internal Stresses in Heterogeneous Solids, Physical Research, vol. 9, 1989) is used for estimating one-point probability distributions of local stresses and strains for various classes of materials without requiring microstructural information beyond the volume fractions. This approach yields analytical formulae for mean values and variances of stresses or strains of general heterogeneous linear thermoelastic materials as well as various special cases of this material class. Of these, the formulae for discrete-phase materials and the formulae for polycrystals in terms of their orientation distribution functions are novel. To illustrate the theory, a parametric study based on Al-Al2O3 composites is performed. Polycrystalline copper is considered as an additional example. Through comparison with full-field simulations, the method is found to be particularly suited for polycrystals and materials with elastic contrasts of up to 5. We see that, for increasing contrast, the dependence of our estimates on the particular microstructures is increasing, as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presence of grain boundaries significantly influences the overall mechanical behavior of materials with an underlying crystalline microstructure. They act as an obstacle against the movement of dislocations and, thus, significantly contribute to size effects as for example the Hall–Petch effect. Hence, the thermodynamically consistent modeling of the behavior of the plastic slip at a grain boundary is of utmost interest. To this end, balance equations at a grain boundary are derived from an extended energy balance by means of invariance considerations. The grain boundary is considered as a material singular surface with own internal and kinetic energy as well as energy supply. Consequently, the balances at the grain boundary depend on its mean curvature. The framework presented is applied to a small strain slip gradient crystal plasticity theory, regarding single slip. Accounting for the derived balance equations, thermodynamically consistent flow rules for the plastic slip at the grain boundary are obtained by exploitation of the Coleman–Noll procedure. In this context, a classification of flow rules for the plastic slip at the grain boundary is provided. Finally, the distribution of the plastic slip is presented regarding a three-phase laminate material with two elastoplastic phases and one elastic phase. The two elastoplastic phases represent the grains of a bicrystal. A grain boundary effect is discussed which is based on a variation of the internal length scale in one of the two elastoplastic phases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gradient plasticity theories are of utmost importance for accounting for size effects in metals, especially on the grain scale. Today, there are several methods used to derive the governing equations for the additional degrees of freedom in gradient plasticity theories. Here, the equivalence between an extended principle of virtual power and an extended energy balance is shown. The energy balance of a Boltzmann continuum is supplemented by contributions based on a scalar-valued degree of freedom. It is considered to be invariant with respect to a change of observer. This yields unambiguously the existence of a corresponding micro-stress vector, which is presumed from the outset in the context of an extended principle of virtual power. A thermodynamically consistent nonlocal evolution equation for the additional, scalar-valued degree of freedom is obtained by evaluation of the dissipation inequality in terms of the Clausius–Duhem inequality. Partitioning the nonlocal flow rule yields a partial differential equation, often referred to as micro-force balance. The approach presented is applied to derive a slip gradient crystal plasticity theory regarding single slip. Finally, the distribution of the plastic slip is exemplified with respect to a laminate material consisting of an elastic and an elastoplastic phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY: This work is devoted to investigating the computational power of Quasi‐Newton methods in the context of fast Fourier transform (FFT)‐based computational micromechanics. We revisit FFT‐based Newton‐Krylov solvers as well as modern Quasi‐Newton approaches such as the recently introduced Anderson accelerated basic scheme. In this context, we propose two algorithms based on the Broyden‐Fletcher‐Goldfarb‐Shanno (BFGS) method, one of the most powerful Quasi‐Newton schemes. To be specific, we use the BFGS update formula to approximate the global Hessian or, alternatively, the local material tangent stiffness. Both for Newton and Quasi‐Newton methods, a globalization technique is necessary to ensure global convergence. Specific to the FFT‐based context, we promote a Dong‐type line search, avoiding function evaluations altogether. Furthermore, we investigate the influence of the forcing term, that is, the accuracy for solving the linear system, on the overall performance of inexact (Quasi‐)Newton methods. This work concludes with numerical experiments, comparing the convergence characteristics and runtime of the proposed techniques for complex microstructures with nonlinear material behavior and finite as well as infinite material contrast. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A micro‐mechanically motivated phenomenological yield function, for polycrystalline cubic metals is presented. In the suggested yield function microstructure is taken into account by the crystallographic orientation distribution function in terms of tensorial Fourier coefficients. The yield function is presented in a polynomial form in powers of the stress state. Known group‐theoretic results are used to identify isotropic and anisotropic parts in the yield function, whereby anisotropic parts are characterized by tensorial Fourier coefficients. The form of the presented yield function is inspired by the classic, phenomenological von Mises ‐ Hill yield function first published in 1913. For a specific choice of material parameters, both functions coincide, thus a micro‐mechanically motivated generalization of the von Mises ‐ Hill yield function is presented. For the given yield function, two dimensional experimental results are sufficient, to identify a three dimensional anisotropic yield behavior. The work concludes with a treatment of the isotropic special case, i.e. a tension‐compression split in yield behavior as well as parameter ranges for convexity and shapes of the yield surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We revisit the polarization-based schemes introduced to FFT-based computational homogenization by Eyre–Milton, Michel–Moulinec–Suquet and Monchiet–Bonnet. When applied to nonlinear problems, these polarization-based methods suffer from two handicaps. Firstly, the optimal choice of algorithmic parameters is only known for the linear elastic case. Secondly, in its original version each iteration of the polarization scheme requires solving a nonlinear system of equations for each voxel. We overcome both difficulties for small-strain elastic–viscoplastic materials. In particular, we show how to avoid solving the nonlinear system. As a byproduct, we identify a computationally efficient convergence criterion enabling a fair comparison to gradient-based solvers (like the basic scheme). The convergence behavior of the polarization schemes is compared to the basic scheme of Moulinec–Suquet and fast gradient methods, based on numerical demonstrations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The final geometry and fatigue behavior of deep drawn components in service is strongly influenced by deformation-induced residual stresses. For multi-phase materials, besides macro residual stresses (first kind), phase-specific residual stresses (second kind) occur on the microscale of the material. In order to influence the component characteristics positively it is important to predict the distribution of the residual stresses on both scales. A two-scale simulation and measurement approach is presented which allows for an efficient determination and validation of the phase-specific residual stresses. Finite-element simulations are performed to predict the deformation-induced macro residual stresses. A numerically efficient mean-field homogenization is used to estimate the total strain, the plastic strain and the eigenstrain on the grain level based on macroscopic stress, strain and stiffness data. The simulated residual stresses are compared to experimental data. Macro residual stresses are determined by means of incremental hole drilling method, whereas phase-specific residual stresses are analyzed with use of X-ray diffraction according to the sin 2 ψ method. The simulation and measurement approaches are applied to a representative deep-drawing process for the lean duplex stainless steel X 2 CrNiN 23 - 4 , which consists of a ferritic and an austenitic phase both with the same volume fraction. The results indicate that the proposed two-scale simulation approach is well suited for the prediction of phase-specific residual stresses after a deep drawing process of lean duplex steel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present work generalizes the results of Böhlke and Lobos (Acta Mater. 67:324-334, 2014) by giving an explicit representation of the Hashin-Shtrikman (HS) bounds of linear elastic properties in terms of tensorial Fourier texture coefficients not only for cubic materials but for arbitrarily anisotropic linear elastic polycrystalline materials. Based on the HS bounds as given by Walpole (J. Mech. Phys. Solids 14(3):151-162, 1966) and tensor functions for the representation of the crystallite orientation distribution function, it is shown that the HS bounds are represented in terms of the exact same second- and fourth-order texture coefficients which appear in the consideration of the Voigt and Reuss bounds. The derived representations in terms of tensorial texture coefficients are valid for all symmetry classes in elasticity and present expressions highly attractive for the description of physical quantities in terms of tensorial variables. In order to make these results also accessible for the community of quantitative texture analysis, transformation relations between experimentally obtained Bunge's or Roe's coefficients and the tensorial texture coefficients are given. The representation of the present work offers a finite and low dimensional parametrization of the fully anisotropic Hashin-Shtrikman bounds, which can be used in inverse materials design problems in order to explore the set of possible materials properties or for the determination of optimal microstructural influence with respect to prescribed material properties. Examples for orthotropic polycrystals of cubic materials and transversely isotropic polycrystals of hexagonal materials (showing the connection and applicability of the results also to fiber orientation distributions) are discussed. Finally, an implementation in Mathematica® 11 of the HS bounds for arbitrarily anisotropic materials is offered, such that readers can reproduce all the results of this work and use them for their own purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implementation of novel material models in the microscale gives a deeper understanding of inner and intercrystalline effects of crystalline materials. For future works, this allows more precise predictions of macroscale models. Here, we present a finite gradient crystal plasticity theory which preserves the single crystal slip kinematics. However, the model is restricted to one gradient-stress, associated with the gradient of the accumulated plastic slip, in order to account for long range dislocation interactions in a physically simplified, numerically efficient approach. In order to model the interaction of dislocations with and their transfer through grain boundaries, a grain boundary yield condition is introduced. The grain boundary flow rule is evaluated at sharp interfaces using discontinuous trial functions in the finite element implementation, thereby allowing for a discontinuous distribution of the accumulated plastic slip. Simulations of crystal aggregates are performed under different loading conditions which reproduce well the size dependence of the yield strength. An analytical solution for a one-dimensional single slip supports the numerical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerical simulations based on phase-field methods are indispensable in order to investigate interesting and important phenomena in the evolution of microstructures. Microscopic phase transitions are highly affected by mechanical driving forces and therefore the accurate calculation of the stresses in the transition region is essential. We present a method for stress calculations within the phase-field framework, which satisfies the mechanical jump conditions corresponding to sharp interfaces, although the sharp interface is represented as a volumetric region using the phase-field approach. This model is formulated for finite deformations, is independent of constitutive laws, and allows using any type of phase inherent inelastic strains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is shown in the present work that for linear elastic multiphase materials the orientation average of a stiffness tensor can be given in a closed form if central model functions are taken into consideration for the description of the material orientation distribution. This holds for arbitrary numbers of material constituents and for arbitrary degree of anisotropy of any of the constituents. The first-order bounds of Voigt and Reuss, the geometric average of Aleksandrov and Aisenberg and, specifically, the Hashin-Shtrikman bounds are given in closed forms depending on the single crystal stiffnesses of the material constituents, on their volume fractions and, for elasticity, on a central orientation and two scalar parameters per central model function. The central orientation and the two scalar parameters, referred to as texture eigenvalues in the present work, reflect the complete influence of the corresponding central model function on the elastic properties. The set of all admissible texture eigenvalues is derived. The closed form expressions can be used, e.g., for efficient and low dimensional homogenization procedures taking the crystallographic texture into account or, e.g., for the determination of estimates for unknown single crystal behavior. It is further shown, that central crystallite orientation distributions exist which conserve the anisotropy of the single crystal behavior but invert the direction of the anisotropy. The closed form expressions documented in the present work are used for an exemplary materials design problem in order to determine favorable volume fractions and texture eigenvalues for the orientation distributions of considered constituents for given prescribed anisotropic properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beyond a certain loading threshold, glass-fiber-reinforced polymer composites with vinylester matrix can show considerably nonlinear deformation behavior due to damage of the matrix material. To model such nonlinear deformation properties, we follow the approach of a fully anisotropic damage model suggested by Govindjee et al. (Govindjee S, Kay GJ and Simo JC. Anisotropic modelling and numerical simulation of brittle damage in concrete. International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering 1995; 38(21): 3611–3633).In addition, the inter-fiber fracture criterion introduced by Puck (Puck A. Festigkeitsanalyse von Faser-Matrix-Laminaten: Modelle für die Praxis. München, Germany: Hanser Fachbuchverlag, 1996) is used for the damage function that defines the damage initiation and the material strength. A particular procedure is chosen to identify the material properties to validate the model: three glass-fiber-reinforced polymer laminates with different layups are tested in tension under different loading orientations, assuming laminate theory to be reasonably well fulfilled. Finally, further experiments are compared with corresponding simulation results to demonstrate the performance of the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The commonly used flow models for Fiber Reinforced Polymers (FRPs) often neglect the flow-induced anisotropy of the suspension, but with increasing fiber volume fraction, this plays an important role. There exist already some models which count on this effect. They are, however, phenomenological and need a fitted model parameter. In this paper, a micromechanically-based constitutive law is proposed which considers the flow-induced anisotropic viscosity of the fiber suspension. Methods: The introduced viscosity tensor can handle arbitrary anisotropy of the fluid-fiber suspension which depends on the actual fiber orientation distribution. Assuming incompressible material behaviour, a homogenization method for unidirectional structures in contribution with orientation averaging is used to determine the effective viscosity tensor. The motion of rigid ellipsoidal fibers induced by the flow of the matrix material is described based on Jeffery's equation. The reorientation of the fibers is modeled in two ways: by describing them with fiber orientation vectors, and by fiber orientation tensors. A numerical implementation of the introduced model is applied to representative flow modes. Results: The predicted effective stress values depending on the actual fiber orientation distribution through the anisotropic viscosity are analyzed in transient and stationary flow cases. In the case of the assumed incompressibility, they show similar effective viscous material behaviour as the results obtained by the use of the Dinh-Armstrong constitutive law. Conclusions: The introduced model is a possible way to describe the flow-induced anisotropic viscosity of a fluid-fiber suspension based on the mean field theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, mathematically well‐defined homogenization results for the Francfort‐Marigo fracture model were established. To solve the resulting cell formula, efficient computational methods were developed and improvements on solver and discretization techniques were investigated. We discuss an approach for solving the governing cell formula based on a rewriting as a second order cone problem, a specific normal form for optimization problems. For such a formulation, potent high‐accuracy optimization solvers are available. We demonstrate our approach on heterogeneous two‐dimensional microstructures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep material networks (DMN) are a promising piece of technology for accelerating concurrent multiscale simulations. DMNs are identified by linear elastic pre‐computations on representative volume elements, and serve as high‐fidelity surrogates for full‐field simulations on microstructures with inelastic constituents. The offline training phase is independent of the online evaluation, such that a pre‐trained DMN may be applied for varying material behavior of the constituents. In this contribution, we investigate a two‐scale component simulation of industrial complexity accelerated by DMNs. To this end, a DMN is solved implicitly at every Gauss point to include the microstructure information into the macro simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]