Micro-XCT-based finite element method for predicting the elastic modulus of needle carbon-fiber-reinforced ceramic matrix composites

Abstract

In this study, a finite element method was developed based on X-ray computer tomography to predict the elastic modulus of needle carbon-fiber-reinforced ceramic matrix composites with voids randomly existing in the material. In these pictures, every pixel point contains all of the information of the components that we need, including voids. Using this information, the mechanical properties of components can be obtained, then a finite element model with voids was built and the predicted results fit well with the experiments. In addition, a volume average method was developed to determine the proper representative volume element size to reduce the computing time without losing the accuracy.

Determination of Local Strain Distribution at the Level of the Constituents of Particle Reinforced Composite: An Experimental and Numerical Study

“…The fundamental strategy in continuum micromechanics is the analysis of the behavior of the representative volume element (RVE), which statistically represents the real microstructure of the material. The RVE can be generated in a way to model the real microstructure very closely, for example by basing on the microtomography scans [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]. However, such detailed description of the microstructure may lead to a prohibitive computation time, particularly in the case of multi-scale computations.…”