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International audience; The purpose of this paper is to present a general upscaling strategy for deriving macroscopic constitutive laws for rubber-like materials from the knowledge of the network distribution and a mechanical description of the individual chains and of their free energy. The microscopic configuration is described by the position of the cross-links and is not obtained by an affine assumption but by minimizing the corresponding free energy on stochastic large representative volume elements with adequate boundary conditions. This general framework is then approximated by using a microsphere (directional) description of the network. It is presented in a global setting and is extended in order to handle situations with tube-like constraints and stress-induced crystallization.

In this work we investigate the properties of elastic waves propagating in gyroid lattices. First, we rigorously characterize the lattice from the point of view of crystallography. Second, we use Bloch&ndash, Floquet analysis to compute the dispersion relations for elastic waves. The results for very long wavelengths are then compared to those given by classic elasticity for a cubic material. A discrepancy is found in terms of the polarization of waves and it is related to the noncentrosymmetry of the gyroid. The gyroid lattice results to be acoustically active, meaning that transverse waves exhibit a circular polarization when they propagate along an axis of rotational symmetry. This phenomenon is present even for very long wavelengths and is not captured by classic elasticity.

The time-domain propagation of scalar waves across a periodic row of inclusions is considered in 2D. As the typical wavelength within the background medium is assumed to be much larger than the spacing between inclusions and the row width, the physical configuration considered is in the low-frequency homogenization regime. Furthermore, a high contrast between one of the constitutive moduli of the inclusions and of the background medium is also assumed. So the wavelength within the inclusions is of the order of their typical size, which can further induce local resonances within the microstructure. In Pham et al. (J. Mech. Phys. Solids 106:80–94, 2017), two-scale homogenization techniques and matched-asymptotic expansions have been employed to derive, in the harmonic regime, effective jump conditions on an equivalent interface. This homogenized model is frequency-dependent due to the resonant behavior of the inclusions. In this context, the present article aims at investigating, directly in the time-domain, the scattering of waves by such a periodic row of resonant scatterers. Its effective behavior is first derived in the time-domain and some energy properties of the resulting homogenized model are analyzed. Time-domain numerical simulations are then performed to illustrate the main features of the effective interface model obtained and to assess its relevance in comparison with full-field simulations.

International audience; Laser Cladding is an additive manufacturing technology well suited for the repair of complex metallic components. The repair is a two-step process: first, one removes the worn region and then, the initial geometry is reconstructed locally. The aim of this work is to study the influence of the microstructural gradient on the strain localization in repaired structures. More precisely, we perform in-situ SEM tensile tests completed by EBSD observations of the microstructure in the interface neighborhood between the base material and the repaired region. Furthermore, we monitor the evolution of the local plastic strain distribution at the grain level until failure. This is performed by Digital Image Correlation methods and superposition of grains contours and strain maps. The observations of grain size and plasticity are compared with predictions provided by a Hall-Petch model. The study emphasizes the importance of the microstructural gradient in the vicinity of reparation interface, more precisely it reveals that this gradient induce multiaxial strains and that the strain localization phenomenon is governed mainly by a grain size effect

International audience; Porous materials are highly relevant in engineering and medical applications due to their enhanced properties and lightweight nature. Current micromechanical models of porous materials can accurately predict the response under the assumptions of small deformations and drained conditions, typically driven by imposed deformations. However, the theoretical framework for the micromechanical modeling of porous material driven by pore pressure in the large-deformation range has been understudied. In this work, we develop a finite-deformation variational framework for pressure-driven foams, i.e., materials where the pore pressure in the cavities produces the deformation. We further consider different kinematical constraints in the formulation of boundary conditions: kinematic uniform displacements, periodic displacements and uniform traction. We apply the proposed model in the numerical simulation of lung porous tissue using a spherical alveolar geometry and an image-based geometry obtained from micro-computed-tomography images of rat lung. Our results show that the stress distributions in the spherical alveolar model are highly dependent on the kinematical constraints. In contrast, the stress distribution in the image-based alveolar model is not affected by the choice of boundary conditions. Further, when comparing the response of pressure-driven versus deformation-driven models, we conclude that hydrostatic stresses experience a marked shift in their distribution, whereas the deviatoric stresses remain unaffected. Our findings of how stresses are affected by the choice of boundary conditions and geometry take particular relevance in the simulation of the lungs, where the pressure-driven and deformation-driven cases are related to mechanical ventilation and spontaneous breathing.

International audience; The fatigue performance of coarse and ultrafine-grained (UFG) 5083 Al alloy were compared, from low to very high cycle fatigue. The UFG alloy exhibited cyclic hardening and predominant kinematic hardening. At high plastic strain amplitude (and only in this regime), it showed easier crack initiation and a lower fatigue resistance. Its resistance to HCF was hardly better than that of its coarse grained counterpart until 2.10 6 cycles, but 43% higher in VHCF, until 5.10 8 cycles. Beyond that point, internal crack initiation occurred, and the fatigue resistance of the UFG material decreased, which was explained using Fracture Mechanics.

International audience; Considering a large class of muscle contraction models accounting for actin-myosin interaction, we present a mathematical setting in which solution properties can be established, including fundamental thermodynamic balances. Moreover, we propose a complete discretization strategy for which we are also able to obtain discrete versions of the thermodynamic balances and other properties. Our major objective is to show how the thermodynamics of such models can be tracked after discretization, including when they are coupled to a macroscopic muscle formulation in the realm of continuum mechanics. Our approach allows to carefully identify the sources of energy and entropy in the system, and to follow them up to the numerical applications.

International audience; The purpose of this paper is to propose an energy based multi-scale fatigue approach which handles multidimensional time varying loading histories.Our fundamental thought is to assume that the energy dissipated at small scales governs fatigue at failure in a nonlinear additive way. We follow the Dang Van paradigm at macro scale. The structure is elastic at the macroscopic scale. At each material point, there is a stochastic distribution of weak points which will undergo strong plastic yielding, which contribute to energy dissipation without affecting the overall macroscopic stress. A kinematic hardening under the assumption of associative plasticity is also considered.Instead of using the number of cycles, we use the concept of multi-scale damage accumulation during the considered load history. A concise non-linear damage accumulation law is also proposed in our model. Fatigue will then be determined from the plastic shakedown cycle and from a phenomenological fatigue law linking lifetime and accumulated mesoscopic plastic dissipation.

Adhesive joints are increasingly employed for bonding critical parts of industrial structures. Therefore, adhesive joints become a key element in design, and their mechanical characterization is of the utmost importance. Significant advancement has been realized for their characterization under quasi-static loadings; however characterization techniques are rather limited for dynamic loadings. Indeed, due to the complex paths of waves through structures, existing dynamic characterization techniques will not characterize only the adhesive joint, but instead will characterize the complete assembly containing the joint and the adherents. Moreover, multiaxiality control of the loading on the adhesive joint is difficult to achieve. This paper proposes an innovative experimental technique for the characterization of adhesive joints under dynamic multiaxial loadings. The experimental method relies on three main components: i) a conventional split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) apparatus, ii) a novel specimen, denoted as DODECA, which enables testing of three distinct multiaxial loadings using the same method and iii) local strain and stress measurements performed by digital image correlation (DIC). The paper describes all steps of the experimental procedure, including the underlying preparation of the specimen and the measuring methods. The stress and strain in the adhesive joint are estimated directly from the experimental data both during loading and at the failure point. Finally, the dynamic material behavior of the adhesive joint is identified from the data.

International audience; Local damage models with softening needs localization limiters to preserve the mathematical and physical consistency. In this paper we compare the properties of strain-gradient and damage-gradient regularizations. Gradient-damage models introduce a quadratic dependency of the dissipated energy on the gradient of the damage field and are nowadays extensively used as phase-field approximation of brittle fracture. Their key feature is to provide a smeared approximation of a crack as a band of localised damage with a finite energy dissipation per unit of surface, that can be identified with the fracture toughness of the Griffith model. Strain gradient models introduce a quadratic dependence of the elastic energy on the gradient of the strain field. A similar term can be physically interpreted as the presence in the material of linear, but nonlocal, stiffnesses, that can be eventually be affected by damage. Despite this attractive interpretation, we have found that strain-gradient regularized models can hardly be used to approximate brittle fracture, because smeared cracks with non-vanishing and finite dissipated energies are hardly obtained. Our analysis is based on variational models and focuses on the one-dimensional traction problem.

WOS; International audience; Polymer matrix composites are widely used in the automotive industry and undergo fatigue loadings. The investigation of the nonlinear cyclic behaviour of such materials is a required preliminary work for a confident fatigue design, but has not involved many publications in the literature. This paper presents an extensive experimental study conducted on a polyamide 66 reinforced with 35 wt% of short glass fibres (PA66 GF35), at room temperature. The material was tested in two conditions: dry-as-moulded (DAM) and at the equilibrium with air containing 50% of relative humidity (RH50). An exhaustive experimental campaign in tensile mode has been carried out, including various strain or stress rates, complex mechanical histories and local thermo-mechanical recordings. Such an extended database allowed us to highlight several complex physical phenomena: viscoelastic effects at different time scales, irrecoverable mechanisms, non-linear kinematic hardening, non-linear viscous flow rule, cyclic softening. Taking into account this advanced analysis, a constitutive model describing the cyclic behaviour is proposed. As the experimental database only includes uniaxial tensile tests, the general 3D anisotropic frame is reduced to an uniaxial model valid for a specific orientation distribution. The robust identification process is based on tests which enable the uncoupling between the underlined mechanical features. This strategy leads to a model which accurately predicts the cyclic behaviour of conditioned as well as dry materials under complex tensile loadings.

International audience; In this paper, an extended version of Biot's differential equation is considered in order to discuss the quasi-static stability of a response for a solid in the framework of generalized standard materials. The same equation also holds for gradient theories since the gradients of arbitrary order of the state variables and of their rates can be introduced in the expression of the energy and of the dissipation potentials. The stability of a quasi-static response of a system governed by Biot's equations is discussed. Two approaches are considered, by direct estimates and by linearizations. The approach by direct estimates can be applied in visco-plasticity as well as in plasticity. A sufficient condition of stability is proposed and based upon the positivity of the second variation of energy along the considered response. This is an extension of the criterion of second variation, well known in elastic buckling, into the study of the stability of a response. The linearization approach is available only for smooth dissipation potentials, i.e. for the study of visco-elastic solids and leads to a result on asymptotic stability. The paper is illustrated by a simple example.

Pas d'embargo connu sur Sherpa Romeo; International audience; This study aims at providing a better understanding of the effects of both microstructure and defect on the high cycle fatigue behavior of metallic alloys using finite element simulations of polycrystalline aggregates. It is well known that the microstructure strongly affects the average fatigue strength and when the cyclic stress level is close to the fatigue limit, it is often seen as the main source of the huge scatter generally observed in this fatigue regime. The presence of geometrical defects in a material can also strongly alter the fatigue behavior. Nonetheless, when the defect size is small enough, i.e. under a critical value, the fatigue strength is no more affected by the defect. The so-called Kitagawa effect can be interpreted as a competition between the crack initiation mechanisms governed either by the microstructure or by the defect. Surprisingly, only few studies have been done to date to explain the Kitagawa effect from the point of view of this competition, even though this effect has been extensively investigated in the literature. The primary focus of this paper is hence on the use of both FE simulations and explicit descriptions of the microstructure to get insight into how the competition between defect and microstructure operates in HCF. In order to account for the variability of the microstructure in the predictions of the macroscopic fatigue limits, several configurations of crystalline orientations, crystal aggregates and defects are studied. The results of each individual FE simulation are used to assess the response at the macroscopic scale thanks to a probabilistic fatigue criterion proposed by the authors in previous works. The ability of this criterion to predict the influence of defects on the average and the scatter of macroscopic fatigue limits is evaluated. In this paper, particular emphasis is also placed on the effect of different loading modes (pure tension, pure torsion and combined tension and torsion) on the experimental and predicted fatigue strength of a 316 stainless steel containing artificial defect.

This paper presents a computational approach for the lifetime assessment of structures under thermomechanical loading. One of the main features of the work is the search for simplicity and robustness in all steps of the modeling, in order to match the proposed method with industrial constraints. Among the peculiarities of the engineering environment are the imposed commercial computer programs and the short time delays for manufacturing. The proposed method is composed of a fluid flow, a thermal and a mechanical finite element computation, as well as a final fatigue analysis. The efficiency of the approach is proved by comparison with experimental results on prototype manifolds. The numerical results match both the localization of the damage zone and the lifetime.

International audience; Polycrystalline metallic materials are made of an aggregate of grains more or less well oriented with respect to the loading axis. During mechanical loading, the diversity of grain orientations leads to a heterogeneous deformation at the local scale. It is well known that most of the plastic work generated during the deformation process reappears in the form of heat, whereas a certain proportion remains latent in the material and is associated with microstructural changes. To access the local stored energy during deformation processes, experimental energy balances are needed at a suitable scale. Thus, simultaneous measure- ments of thermal and kinematic fields were made in-house at the microstructural scale of a 316L stainless steel submitted to a macroscopic monotonic tensile test. The aim of the present study is to propose a complete calibration strategy allowing us to estimate the ther- mal variations of each material point along its local and complex deformation path. This calibration strategy is a key element for achieving experimental granular energy balances and has to overcome two major experimental problems: the dynamics of each infrared focal plane array sensor that leads to undesired spatial and temporal noise and the complexity of the local loading path that must be captured by simultaneous complementary measurement. The improvement of such a multifield strategy is crucial for performing properly the experimental and local energy balances required to build new energetically based damage criteria.

This paper is concerned with a semi-analytical approach to the solution of the axisymmetric indentation problem for a multilayered elastic half-space. The stress and displacement fields for each layer and the substrate are derived in closed form by using the Papkovich-Neuber potentials and the Hankel transform. The bonded or sliding interface conditions between the sub-layers are handled by the use of the appropriate transfer matrix, and then the mixed boundary value problem is reduced to a Fredholm integral equation. Symbolic and numerical computations of the solution are implemented in the symbolic software Mathematica in the form of a fast and efficient numerical algorithm, allowing rapid determination of the load-displacement curves and composite elastic properties for an arbitrary rigid indenter shape. A series of results for different indenters (flat, conical, spherical and blunted conical punch shapes) and different multilayered composites is presented and discussed. The complete set of symbolic and numerical computations are provided as supplementary resources with the paper. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

International audience; We propose a method of modelling sail type structures which captures the wrinkling behaviour of such structures. The method is validated through experimental and analytical test cases, particularly in terms of wrinkling prediction. An enhanced wrinkling index is proposed as a valuable measure characterizing the global wrinkling development on the deformed structure. The method is based on a pseudo-dynamic finite element procedure involving non-linear MITC shell elements. The major advantage compared to membrane models generally used for this type of analysis is that no ad hoc wrinkling model is required to control the stability of the structure. We demonstrate our approach to analyse the behaviour of various structures with spherical and cylindrical shapes, characteristic of downwind sails over a rather wide range of shape and constitutive parameters. In all cases convergence is reached and the overall flying shape is most adequately represented, which shows that our approach is a most valuable alternative to standard techniques to provide deeper insight into the physical behaviour. Limitations appear only in some very special instances in which local wrinkling-related instabilities are extremely high and would require specific additional treatments, out of the scope of the present study.

International audience; The LFC (Lost Foam Casting) process affects the microstructure, the mechanical properties, the damage mechanisms and the fatigue failure of the materials. The first purpose of this paper is to study the cyclic mechanical behaviors, damage and lifetime of the A319 aluminum alloy manufactured by the LFC process used in the automotive industry under TMF (Thermo-Mechanical Fatigue) and LCF (Low Cycle Fatigue) conditions. A second objective is to select an effective fatigue criterion which should be easy to apply for the design of structures submitted to complex multiaxial thermo-mechanical loadings. In this way, several energy-based criteria are used to predict fatigue failure. Good agreement between predicted fati- gue lifetimes and experimental results was obtained for different TMF and LCF loading conditions.

International audience; The fatigue crack initiation phenomenon in metals is essentially associated to the gliding of dislocations and the creation of slip bands which characterize irreversible damaging mechanisms at the grains scale. A multiscale approach is then interesting to establish a link between the scale of the structure submitted to cyclic loading and the scale of damage. Some stress based criteria were previously proposed in this framework based on the shakedown theories, as Dang Van or Papadopoulos ones. The same approach is developed in this paper in the usual Thermodynamics of Irreversible Processes (TIP) framework in order to study the link between dissipation, shakedown and fatigue damage. Some recent results in metals fatigue coming from infrared thermography experiments are then interpreted through the TIP; the proposed framework seems to be particularly relevant to define a more general feature for the study of the fatigue phenomenon.

International audience; This paper investigates the effects of plasticity on the effective fracture toughness. A layered material is considered as a modelling system. An elastic-plastic phase-field model and a surfing boundary condition are used to study how the crack propagates throughout the material and the evolution of the effective toughness as a function of the layer angle. We first study three idealized situations, where only one property among fracture toughness, Young's modulus and yield strength is heterogeneous whereas the others are uniform. We observe that in the case of toughness and strength heterogeneity, the material exhibits anomalous isotropy: the effective toughness is equal to the largest of the point-wise values for any layer angle except when the layers are parallel to the macroscopic direction of propagation. As the layer angle decreases, the crack propagates along the brittle-to-tough interfaces, whereas it goes straight when the layers have different yield strength but uniform toughness. We find that smooth deflections in the crack path do not induce any overall toughening and that the effective toughness is not proportional to either the cumulated fracture energy or the cumulated plastic work. In the case of elastic heterogeneity, the material is anisotropic in the sense of the effective toughness, as the latter varies as a function of the layer angle. Four toughening mechanisms are active: stress fluctuations, crack renucleation, plastic dissipation and plastic blunting. Finally, we consider a layered medium comprised of compliant-tough-weak and stiff-brittle-strong phases, as it is the case for many structural composites. We observe a transition from an interface-dominated to a plasticity-dominated failure regime, as the phase constituents become more ductile. The material is anisotropic in the sense of the effective toughness.

International audience; This communication addresses the identification of rigid scatterers in a three-dimensional acoustic medium of finite extent. The methodology is based on two main concepts. The first is a boundary element formulation of the relevant acoustic boundary value problems which is accelerated by means of the Fast Multipole Method, and thereby applicable to acoustic domains of relatively large size compared to the acoustic wavelength. The second is the topo-logical gradient of the cost function associated with the inverse problem, a distribution whose computation indicates the spatial regions in the acoustic medium where the virtual introduction of a rigid scatterer of very small size induces a decrease of the cost function, thereby allowing e.g. a better-informed choice of initial conditions for a subsequent optimization-based inversion algorithm. Both concepts are presented and demonstrated on numerical examples.; Cette communication concerne l'identification d'obstacles dans un domaine acoustique tridimensionnel borné. L'approche présentée repose sur deux ingrédients essentiels. Le premier est l'utilisation d'une méthode d'équations intégrales rapide fondée sur la fast multi-pole method, grâce à laquelle il est possible d'aborder ce type de problème d'inversion sur des configurations tridimensionnelles bornées de longueurs caractéristiques relativement grandes par rapport à la longueur d'onde acoustique. Le second est le gradient topologique de la fonction coût associée au problème inverse, permettant de déterminer les zones du domaine acoustique dans lesquelles l'introduction virtuelle d'un obstacle infinitésimal induit une diminution de la fonction coût. Cela permet par exemple de guider le choix de conditions initiales pour la mise en œuvre ultérieure d'un algorithme d'inversion reposant sur l'optimisation de la fonction coût. Ces deux aspects sont présentés et illustrés sur des exemples numériques.

A series of High-Cycle Fatigue (HCF) criteria for polycrystalline materials is based on a multiscale interpretation, proposed initially by Dang Van, in which the principal concepts are a two scales model and a shakedown condition. The purpose of this Note is to extend the study of the different dissipative regimes during cyclic loading within this framework by using a self consistent homogenization scheme in coupled thermoplasticity. It is shown that the Sachs and Lin-Taylor schemes are not able to represent the thermal evolutions observed during fatigue tests. To cite this article: E. Charkaluk, A. Constantinescu, C. R. Mecanique 334 (2006).

The discussion of fatigue damage is generally separated in two domains: Low Cycle Fatigue (LCF) and High Cycle Fatigue (HCF). The transition zone concerns the case of limited endurance, while the unlimited endurance is generally assimilated with HCF. Fatigue failure is the result of complex microscopic phenomena which occur under cyclic loading. However, the principal mechanism responsible for the crack initiation, common to all domains, is the spatial extension of inelastic strains (plastic or viscous) in the grains due to the motion of dislocations. The major difference between HCF and LCF regimes is that inelastic strains develop at the material's mesoscopic and macroscopic scales, respectively. As the underlying mechanics are the same, there should be no reason to have distinct criteria in HCF and LCF. The objective of this paper is to give some further considerations based on dissipation towards a unified method to treat fatigue damage.

International audience; Combined cyclic tension and internal pressure tests with various proportions of each loading were run on a 2.5%Cr–1%Mo steel in air and in 3.5% NaCl solution, with and without cathodic protection to investigate the effect of positive stress biaxiality on corrosion‐fatigue lives and damage mechanisms. At free potential, a strong reduction in fatigue resistance was observed for uniaxial as well as for equibiaxial cyclic tension and attributed to multiple crack initiation from corrosion pits. Cathodic protection completely cancelled the detrimental effect of the corrosive environment on fatigue lives whatever the load biaxiality was, in spite of an obvious enhancement of intergranular fracture attributed to hydrogen embrittlement.

The discrete elastic rod method (Bergou et al. 2008 ACM Trans. Graph . 27 , 63:1–63:12. ( doi:10.1145/1360612.1360662 )) is a numerical method for simulating slender elastic bodies. It works by representing the centreline as a polygonal chain, attaching two perpendicular directors to each segment and defining discrete stretching, bending and twisting deformation measures and a discrete strain energy. Here, we investigate an alternative formulation of this model based on a simpler definition of the discrete deformation measures. Both formulations are equally consistent with the continuous rod model. Simple formulae for the first and second gradients of the discrete deformation measures are derived, making it easy to calculate the Hessian of the discrete strain energy. A few numerical illustrations are given. The approach is also extended to inextensible ribbons described by the Wunderlich model, and both the developability constraint and the dependence of the energy on the strain gradients are handled naturally.

International audience; We investigate elastic-plastic adhesive wear via a continuum variational phase-field approach. The model seamlessly captures the transition from perfectly brittle, over quasi-brittle to elastic-plastic wear regimes, as the ductility of the contacting material increases. Simulation results highlight the existence of a critical condition that morphological features and material ductility need to satisfy for the adhesive junction to detach a wear debris. We propose a new criterion to discriminate between non-critical and critical asperity contacts, where the former produce negligible wear while the latter lead to significant debris formation.

The purpose of this paper is to define a low cycle fatigue criterion in order to predict the failure of engineering structures. The major problem in defining a predictive fatigue criterion is that it should be applicable for structures submitted to complex multiaxial thermo-mechanical loadings but should be identifiable from simple experiments on specimens. After a short critical review of the principal criteria used in low cycle fatigue it will be shown that the dissipated energy per cycle permits a correlation of isothermal and anisothermal results obtained on silicon molybdenum cast iron in the case of specimens and also on structures.

International audience; This paper deals with the numerical simulation of coil sagging. This problem arises within the framework of the steel making industry where strips are wound on themselves for storage. Coil sagging is a major defect that can occur for recent grades undergoing phase transitions during the coiling process. The detailed mechanisms leading to coil sagging are still not well understood, making this phenomenon very difficult to prevent. The coil is a multilayer hollow cylinder where sliding takes place at each interface and significantly contributes to the overall deformation. However, a detailed numerical simulation addressing the contact problem, considering both pressure and sliding is difficult to perform under non-axisymmetric conditions. This paper presents a simplified approach considering an orthotropic hollow cylinder instead of a multilayer coil. The anisotropy is due to contact roughness that tends to decrease the radial stiffness. The hollow cylinder is subjected to gravity and an eigenstrain representing thermal expansion, phase transitions and transformation induced plasticity. Sliding at each interface is taken into account through a continuous plastic-like shear strain that is determined through an energetic principle. The proposed solution relies on analytical developments so that computation time is compatible with parametric studies. Results are addressed in order to give a better understanding of mechanisms and conditions under which coil sagging occur.

International audience; We perform Molecular Dynamics simulations to investigate the strength properties of particulate reinforced nanocomposites. For a fixed reinforcement volume fraction, the effective strength increases as the inclusion size decreases. We further develop a kinematic limit analysis approach, which delivers theoretical estimates of the effective strength. The model is first assessed in the absence of size effects by comparison with data from available literature. An extension to nanocomposites is then proposed, accounting for the presence of surface stresses at the matrix/inclusion interface. Numerical data are used to calibrate the interfacial strength, which is found to be a size-dependent property.

In this paper we present a theoretical background for a coupled analytical–numerical approach to model a crack propagation process in two-dimensional bounded domains. The goal of the coupled analytical–numerical approach is to obtain the correct solution behaviour near the crack tip by help of the analytical solution constructed by using tools of complex function theory and couple it continuously with the finite element solution in the region far from the singularity. In this way, crack propagation could be modelled without using remeshing. Possible directions of crack growth can be calculated through the minimization of the total energy composed of the potential energy and the dissipated energy based on the energy release rate. Within this setting, an analytical solution of a mixed boundary value problem based on complex analysis and conformal mapping techniques is presented in a circular region containing an arbitrary crack path. More precisely, the linear elastic problem is transformed into a Riemann–Hilbert problem in the unit disk for holomorphic functions. Utilising advantages of the analytical solution in the region near the crack tip, the total energy could be evaluated within short computation times for various crack kink angles and lengths leading to a potentially efficient way of computing the minimization procedure. To this end, the paper presents a general strategy of the new coupled approach for crack propagation modelling. Additionally, we also discuss obstacles in the way of practical realisation of this strategy.

The multi-scale nature of architectured materials raises the need for advanced experimental methods suitable for the identification of their effective properties, especially when their size is finite and they undergo extreme deformations. The present work demonstrates that state-of-the art image processing methods combined with numerical and analytical models provide a comprehensive quantitative description of these solids and their global behaviour, including the influence of the boundary conditions, of the manufacturing process, and of geometric and constitutive non-linearities. To this end, an adapted multi-scale digital image correlation analysis is used to track both elongations and rotations of particular features of the unit cell at the local and global (homogenized) scale of the material. This permits to observe with unprecedented clarity the strains for various unit cells in the structure and to detect global deformation patterns and heterogeneities of the homogenized strain distribution. This method is here demonstrated on elastic sheets undergoing extreme longitudinal and shear deformations. These experimental results are compared to non-linear finite element simulations, which are also used to evaluate the effects of manufacturing imperfections on the response. A skeletal representation of the architectured solid is then extracted from the experiments and used to create a purely-kinematic truss-hinge model that can accurately capture its behaviour. The analysis proposed in this work can be extended to guide the design of two-dimensional architectured solids featuring other regular, quasi-regular or graded patterns, and subjected to other types of loads., Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures

International audience

We study some effective transmission conditions able to reproduce the effect of a periodic array of Dirichlet wires on wave propagation, in particular when the array delimits an acoustic Faraday cage able to resonate. In the study of Hewett & Hewitt (2016 Proc. R. Soc. A 472 , 20160062 ( doi:10.1098/rspa.2016.0062 )) different transmission conditions emerge from the asymptotic analysis whose validity depends on the frequency, specifically the distance to a resonance frequency of the cage. In practice, dealing with such conditions is difficult, especially if the problem is set in the time domain. In the present study, we demonstrate the validity of a simpler unified model derived in Marigo & Maurel (2016 Proc. R. Soc. A 472 , 20160068 ( doi:10.1098/rspa.2016.0068 )), where unified means valid whatever the distance to the resonance frequencies. The effectiveness of the model is discussed in the harmonic regime owing to explicit solutions. It is also exemplified in the time domain, where a formulation guaranteeing the stability of the numerical scheme has been implemented.

This study investigates experimentally and numerically the response of a magnetorheological elastomer (MRE) layer placed atop an electromagnetic coil. The MRE layer is deflected upon application of a current in the coil, which creates highly nonuniform magnetic fields. Isotropic and transversely isotropic layers (i.e., containing chains of magnetic particles) are tested experimentally, and the isotropic layer exhibits the largest deflection. To enhance the energetic efficiency of the model device, an iron core is introduced inside the electromagnetic coil, thereby leading to an increase in the resulting magnetic field near the center of the MRE layer. In parallel, the boundary value problem —including the MRE layer, the coil, the core (if present) and the surrounding air—is modeled numerically. For this, a magneto-mechanical, vector potential-based variational formulation is implemented in a standard three-dimensional finite element model at finite strains. For the material description, a recently proposed analytical homogenization-guided model is used to analyze the MRE in the “coil-only” configuration. It is then employed to predict the response of the layer in the “coil plus core” configuration, thus circumventing the need for a separate material characterization procedure. The proposed numerical simulation strategy provides a deeper understanding of the underlying complexity of the magnetic fields and of their interaction with the MRE layer. This study also reveals the importance of modeling the entire setup for predicting the response of MRE materials and, as a result, constitutes a step toward designing more efficient MRE-based devices.

An extensive experimental campaign was run to investigate the influence of the loading direction, stress state (triaxiality ratio ranging from −0.5 to 1), and strain rate (from 10−3 to 1.5x103s−1) on the ductile fracture of Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy. Microscopic and macroscopic observations provided some insight into the shear-driven or micro-voiding-controlled damage mechanisms prevailing at low and high triaxiality ratios, respectively. Numerical simulations were run to determine the local loading paths to fracture in terms of plastic strain as a function of stress triaxiality ratio and Lode parameter. The ductility was found to be anisotropic, but only weakly dependent on the strain rate in the considered range. The anisotropy in ductility was different in tension (maximum along DD) and in compression (maximum along ND). The fracture strain decreased with the absolute value of the triaxiality, with a maximum close to zero. No clear correlation with the Lode parameter was found.

International audience; The free vibrations of cantilever slender beams of polymers, which are viscoelastic materials, are theoretically described using the simple Euler–Bernoulli assumption. The comparison between the theory and the experimental data collected for a thermoplastic elastomer, polyether block amide, shows very satisfactory results. Consequently, the theory is used for a thoughtful analysis of the impact of the material parameters and the beam geometry on its free vibration. Finally, the comparison of the dynamic behaviors of two polymers, using the free vibration test and a simple uniaxial tension/relaxation test, is discussed.

International audience; This paper proposes an original method for characterising the Low Cycle Fatigue (LCF) lifetime using probability density functions. The protocol is based on statistics of microstructure heterogeneities taken as damage initiation sites, a qualitative mechanical analysis of the heterogeneities harmfulness and the definition of a micro-crack growth law. The technique is here established and the associated model identified for a nodular cast iron where the graphite nodules are assumed to be the damage initiation zones. The LCF lifetime is characterised from both a large set of experimental test between 300 and 600 • C and damage observations at the micro-scale. Experimental post-mortem observation combined with a simple numerical study first enable to assume the harmfulness of nodules according to their size and their probable role in the damage process A probability density function for the lifetime is then built from the following steps: (i) a quantitative analysis of the material micro-structure, which provides the probability density of nodules occurrence depending of their size (ii) an extreme value analysis using a Gumbel distribution and (iii) a micro-crack growth law associated with LCF conventional terms of energy densities. Its parameters are obtained using an optimisation process applied to laboratory fatigue experiment. The obtained probability function provides a good match for the lifetime and greatly improves results given by conventional criteria. It moreover provides a robust estimate of the lifetime scatter for different types of fatigue tests.

International audience; The design of reliable structures and the estimation of the residual fatigue life of industrial parts containing flaws or cracks rely on our ability to predict the propagation of fatigue cracks. Whereas in industrial component cracks might have a complex path due to geometry and loading, lab experiments used for identifying crack propagation law are often in pure mode I. The paper presents a synthesis of an experimental benchmark performed in the context of a French national research network. A sample has been designed to produce mixed-mode crack propagation and variation of small scale yielding conditions. Two geometries and two maximum load levels are defined for the two tested materials: a stainless steel and an aluminum alloy. Around ten participants performed experiments using their usual instrumentation. Among the eight possible parameter sets, three are selected for which detailed results are presented. A satisfying overall agreement is obtained. But, some discrepancies are evidenced due either to limitations of the instrumentation or simply because from one lab to the other the applied load is not exactly the same. It is thus concluded that one of the most important issue is boundary conditions, which is confirmed by numerical simulations.

The purpose of this article is to assess a self-heating testing method for the characterization of fatigue properties of single-track thickness additively manufactured specimens. It also evaluates the impact of the microstructure orientation with respect to the loading direction on the dissipative behavior and the initiation of microcracks. The 316L stainless steel specimens under scrutiny were manufactured by Directed Energy Deposition in two configurations: (i) fully printed specimens (2 orientations) and (ii) repaired specimens. The paper first presents a morphologic and crystallographic texture analysis and second, a series of self-heating tests under cyclic loading. The microstructural analysis revealed elongated grains with their sizes, shapes and preferred orientations controlled by process parameters. The self-heating measurements under cyclic tensile loading proved that the dissipation estimation through infrared measurements can be performed on small scale, thin specimens. The self-heating curves could successfully be represented by the Munier model. Moreover, several links between the printing parameters and self-heating results could be established. For example, a smaller vertical increment between successively deposited layers leads to higher mean endurance limits in all configurations. Repaired specimens had a lower mean endurance limit when compared with fully printed or conventionally manufactured substrate specimens. Finally, anisotropy was highlighted during these cyclic tests: specimens loaded orthogonally to the printing direction (PD) showed higher fatigue limits when compared with the ones tested along the PD. Additionally, post-mortem observations revealed characteristic microcracking patterns initiated during the self-heating experiments. Loading along the printing direction induced a classical dominating crack, whereas orthogonal loading generated a network of microcracks along the printing direction. This suggests that the damage, such as void opening, where concentrated at the interlayers. Additionally these damage patterns can be correlated with patterns of plasticity at the grains scale observed in a previous study.

International audience; In this study, the effective constitutive behavior of heterogeneous materials comprising bimodular phases is investigated through a computational approach and by referring to Curnier-type bimodularity. Different microstructures characterized by spherical inclusions or voids are addressed, by analyzing different loading scenarios. Numerical results, obtained via an iterative finite-element scheme, highlight the influence of intraphase constitutive non-linearities induced by the tension/compression transition of the local material stiffness. Moreover, coupling effects between hydrostatic and deviatoric states are elucidated. The macroscale material response results dependent on the loading condition, and it is driven by perturbative effects of heterogeneous fields locally induced by pores or inclusions.

Mode I + II fatigue crack growth tests are run, following sequential or pseudo-sequential loading paths, representative of those computed for ”squat type” cracks in rails. Stereo DIC provides the near-tip displacements, from which Δ K I effective and Δ K II effective are derived. Compression while shearing extends coplanar growth, by slowing down the wear-induced rise of the effective mode mixity ratio, up to the critical value for which bifurcation occurs. The consideration of plasticity and contact and friction stresses improves crack paths predictions, compared to the maximum tangential stress criterion. The coplanar crack growth rate correlates well with a combination of Δ K I effective and Δ K II effective .

International audience; Digital image correlation (DIC) is more and more popular to monitor fatigue crack growth and to determine the stress intensity factors. However, the posttreatment of the recorded displacement fields becomes tricky when the crack faces are not stress‐free and when crack tip plasticity becomes significant. Several posttreatment methods to locate the crack tip and measure the effective stress intensity factors in such cases are compared, using finite element method‐computed displacement fields, and then used on real DIC fields. An approach coupling DIC and finite element method is proposed to estimate the contact stresses along the crack.

International audience; We propose a model of flexural elastic plates accounting for boundary layer effects due to the most usual boundary conditions or to geometrical defects, constructed via matched asymptotic expansions. In particular, considering a rectangular plate clamped at two opposite edges while the other two are free, we derive the effective boundary conditions or effective transmission conditions that the two first terms of the outer expansion must satisfy. The new boundary value problems thus obtained are studied and compared with the classical Love-Kirchhoff plate model. Two examples of application illustrate the results.

International audience; Motivated by the different uniaxial responses of two actual materials filled with either sifted glass beads or sifted glass grits, the influence of the fillers shape on the finite strain behavior of highly filled composites (>50%) is examined through micromechanical finite element simulations accounting for matrix/filler debonding with a cohesive-zone model. Three-dimensional matrix cells filled with 64 monosized spherical particles are compared to cells filled with the same number of monosized polyhedra. For this purpose, an original generation process was developed to obtain periodic cells with random dispersions of non-regular polyhedra. Finite element simulations of uniaxial tensile tests on the periodic cells allow studying the influence of the fillers shape on the macroscopic behavior and on the local damage at the matrix/filler interfaces. Actually, the presence of sharp edges and apexes for polyhedral particles seems to have a second order impact compared to the cohesive-zone parameters. The damage fields demonstrate the same trends for both particles shapes. The different behaviors observed on actual composites are rather due to different adhesion properties between fillers and matrix than to the shape of particles.

International audience; This article deals with residual stress evaluation within the framework of numerical simulation of the coiling process of steel. Plastic deformations along with multiphase transitions are responsible for large irreversible strain leading to major residual stress issues. A nonlinear mixed analytical/numerical approach is developed to compute residual stresses generated by different contributions of inelastic strain occurring during the coiling process (including both winding and cooling). In particular, transformation-induced plasticity is taken into account. Contact stresses at the interfaces between layers are updated at each time step by a minimization procedure. The analytical part of the proposed strategy is validated by comparison with a finite element computation. Then a coil composed of 196 layers is considered under typical industrial conditions. Numerical results are discussed to present the industrial application of the proposed approach.

International audience; This work proposes the complete design cycle for several auxetic materials where the cycle consists of three steps (i) the design of the micro-architecture, (ii) the manufacturing of the material and (iii) the testing of the material. We use topology optimization via a level-set method and asymptotic homogenization to obtain periodic micro-architectured materials with a prescribed effective elasticity tensor and Poisson's ratio. The space of admissible micro-architectural shapes that carries orthotropic material symmetry allows to attain shapes with an effective Poisson's ratio below − 1. Moreover, the specimens were manufactured using a commercial stereolithography Ember printer and are mechanically tested. The observed displacement and strain fields during tensile testing obtained by digital image correlation match the predictions from the finite element simulations and demonstrate the efficiency of the design cycle.

International audience; This paper presents a numerical inverse method dedicated to the characterization of adhesive joints under multiaxial and dynamic loading conditions. The properties under scrutiny are the constitutive behavior of the joint as well as the final fracture surface. The experimental setup consists of a Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar system and local strain measurements performed by Digital Image Correlation (DIC) as well as a novel specific sandwich specimen denoted as DODECA. The direct numerical model is an original Finite Element computation combining 3D and 1D elements for an optimal handling of wave reflection and interfaces. It further provides an optimal compromise between computation time and accuracy. The identification method is based on the Finite Element Model Updating method (FEMU). Material parameters are identified for three different multiaxial loading conditions and presented as yield and fracture surfaces in the space of equivalent von Mises stress vs hydrostatic stress. As a complement of the analysis, uncertainties and confidence of the identified parameters are estimated with precise qualitative tools.

International audience; A joint experimental and modelling study of plastic strain and ensuing damage in a novel metal matrix composite (Fe-TiB2) is presented. Damage is observed and quantified using SEM images processing and Acoustic Emission (AE) analysis. The use of AE confirms that the surface damage observed is strongly correlated to damage in the bulk of the material. The primary mode of damage is particle fracture. Very little particle decohesion is observed, indicating an exceptionally good cohesion of the steel/particle interface. Damage is initiated soon after the composite yield point is reached and increases significantly with strain. Macroscopic failure of the tensile specimen occurs when about 25% of the particles are fractured. This corresponds to about 21% engineering strain. Using in-situ SEM tensile tests with quantitative digital image correlation (DIC), full-field strain measurements are obtained and particle fracture quantified. The results of fields measurements are compared to results of a FFT based homogenization method with boundary conditions retrieved from the experiment. A good agreement is found between the DIC-measured and FFT-predicted results. Estimated values of the particle fracture stress are obtained.

International audience; The resistance to mode I failure of rubbers is studied by submitting single edge notch samples to uniaxial tension. Reproducing the seminal work of Rivlin and Thomas (J Polym Sci 10:291–318, 1953), single edge notch tension specimens, presenting notches of various lengths, are stretched until break. A styrene butadiene rubber, unfilled and filled with carbon-black, and an unfilled rubber from the latter mentioned work, were considered. When the notch is smaller than one fifth of the sample width, mode I crack opening is observed, leading to catastrophic failure that creates smooth mirror-like crack surfaces. Nonetheless, the experimental force-elongation responses show that the mode I critical energy release rate cannot be calculated by a classical Griffith elastic failure analysis. When notches are longer, the SENT samples are not submitted to pure uniaxial tension only. Structural bending leads to uncontrolled mixed mode crack propagation. The surfaces created when the long notches propagate are rough and bifurcations are witnessed for the filled rubbers.

International audience It is well-known by now that the Hashin-Shtrikman bounds imply that the two-point correlation functions are not in general sufficient to estimate accurately the response of composites, especially when their underlying phases exhibit infinite contrast, e.g., porous materials. Starting from this longstanding, albeit qualitative result, this work investigates quantitatively the relevance of using two-point correlations to model the effective elastic properties of specific isotropic porous materials with and without connectivity. To achieve this in an unambiguous manner, we propose three different microstructures that share almost identical two-point statistics by design but are rather different morphologically. The choice of these microstructures is driven by their wide use in several practical problems ranging from polymers to geomaterials. The first microstructure is obtained by a random sequential adsorption (RSA) of non-overlapping, polydisperse, spherical and ellipsoidal voids oriented randomly in a unit-cell. The second one, termed connected random sequential adsorption (CRSA), is obtained from the first one by adding controlled connectivity via cylindrical channels of circular cross-section. The porosity resulting from connectivity is compensated by reducing the size of the existing voids to have the same overall porosity. Interestingly, we find that connectivity does not affect the corresponding two-point statistics. Finally, using as an input the numerical one-and two-point correlations of the RSA, we reconstruct a thresholded Gaussian random field (TGRF) microstructure. Using FFT numerical simulations, we show that the resulting effective elastic properties are very different for the three generated microstructures, despite them sharing nearly the same two-point correlation functions. We show, further, that the introduction of connectivity, and in particular the partial volume fraction of the connected channels, even small, affects strongly the resulting effective elasticity of the composite.