Debonding of particle/matrix interfaces can significantly affect the macroscopic behavior of composite material. We have used a nonlinear cohesive law for particle/matrix interfaces to study interface debonding and its effect on particulate composite materials subject to uniaxial tension. The dilute solution shows that, at a fixed particle volume fraction, small particles lead to hardening behavior of the composite while large particles yield softening behavior. Interface debonding of large particles is unstable since the interface opening (and sliding) displacement(s) may have a sudden jump as the applied strain increases, which is called the catastrophic debonding. A simple estimate is given for the critical particle radius that separates the hardening and softening behavior of the composite.
The choice of boundary conditions used in multiscale analysis of heterogeneous materials affects the numerical results, including the macroscopic constitutive response, the type and extent of damage taking place at the microscale and the required size of the Representative Volume Element (RVE). We compare the performance of periodic boundary conditions and minimal kinematic boundary conditions applied to the unit cell of a particulate composite material, both in the absence and presence of damage at the particle-matrix interfaces. In particular, we investigate the response of the RVE under inherently non-periodic loading conditions, and the ability of both boundary conditions to capture localization events that are not aligned with the RVE boundaries. We observe that, although there are some variations in the evolution of the microscale damage between the two methods, there is no significant difference in homogenized responses even when localization is not aligned with the cell boundaries.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.