<title>Analytical modeling for passive damping in smart composites using a multicell method</title>

Abstract

The hysteresis type of material specific damping capacity (SDC) of a unidirectional hybrid fibre reinforced smart composite has been studied in the present work using a multi-cell method.To do this, as a first step, we reviewed various micromechanics modelling for the mechanical properties in general and material damping in particular in order to compare the theoretical capabilities and limitations of the existing analytical models. A new refined unit cell featuring a more realistic fibre-matrix domain has then been proposed for the present modelling. SDC equations corresponding to all the six directions were derived using the strain energy concept within the framework of mechanics of material approach. The generality of the present model in terms of the range of fibre volume ratio, different combinations of fibre-matrix systems etc., has been verified by comparing the present results with the literature including available experimental results. An important merit of the present theory that has to be emphasized over other available theories is the accurate prediction of the transverse and shear directions SDC for composites having a high fibre/matrix modulus ratio. Further, the scope of the present model to the practical applications of a typical shape memory alloy hybrid composite has also been demonstrated through numerical simulations.