As multi-phase metal/alloy systems and polymer, ceramic, or metal matrix composite materials are increasingly being used in industry, the science and technology for these heterogeneous materials has advanced rapidly. By extending analytical and numerical models, engineers can analyze failure characteristics of the materials before they are integrated into the design process. Micromechanical Analysis and Multi-Scale Modeling Using the Voronoi Cell Finite Element Method addresses the key problem of multi-scale failure and deformation of materials that have complex microstructures. The book presents a comprehensive computational mechanics and materials science-based framework for multi-scale analysis.
The focus is on micromechanical analysis using the Voronoi cell finite element method (VCFEM) developed by the author and his research group for the efficient and accurate modeling of materials with non-uniform heterogeneous microstructures. While the topics covered in the book encompass the macroscopic scale of structural components and the microscopic scale of constituent heterogeneities like inclusions or voids, the general framework may be extended to other scales as well.
The book presents the major components of the multi-scale analysis framework in three parts. Dealing with multi-scale image analysis and characterization, the first part of the book covers 2D and 3D image-based microstructure generation and tessellation into Voronoi cells. The second part develops VCFEM for micromechanical stress and failure analysis, as well as thermal analysis, of extended microstructural regions. It examines a range of problems solved by VCFEM, from heat transfer and stress-strain analysis of elastic, elastic-plastic, and viscoplastic material microstructures to microstructural damage models including interfacial debonding and ductile failure. Establishing the multi-scale framework for heterogeneous materials with and without damage, the third part of the book discusses adaptive concurrent multi-scale analysis incorporating bottom-up and top-down modeling.
Including numerical examples and a CD-ROM with VCFEM source codes and input/output files, this book is a valuable reference for researchers, engineers, and professionals involved with predicting the performance and failure of materials in structure-materials interactions.
About the Author: Somnath Ghosh is the Michael G. Callas Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering and Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. Prior to this, he was the John B. Nordholt Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Ohio State University until March 2011.
His research has been at the leading edge of multiple-scale modeling of mechanical behavior and failure response of heterogeneous material systems such as composites, polycrystalline metals and alloys, etc., for structure-material interaction. Specific areas of his contributions include multiple-scale modeling in spatial and temporal domains, failure modeling of composite materials and structures, reliability, fatigue and failure modeling of metals, composites and thermal barrier coatings, molecular dynamics simulations of thin films and nano-composites, metal forming and casting and process design.
He was awarded the prestigious NSF Young Investigator award in 1994. He is a fellow of the American Society for Mechanical Engineers, ASM International, the National Materials Society, the American Academy of Mechanics, the International Association of Computational Mechanics, the U.S. Association of Computational Mechanics, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
