Multiscale Modelling of the Effective Viscoplastic Material Behaviour of Textile‐Reinforced Polymers Using XFEM

Abstract

AbstractIn this contribution a modelling approach using numerical homogenisation techniques is applied to predict the effective nonlinear material behaviour of composites from simulations of a representative volume element (RVE). Numerical models of the heterogeneous material structure in the RVE are generated using the eXtended Finite Element Method (XFEM) which allows for a regular mesh. Suitable constitutive relations account for the material behaviour of the constituents. The influence of the nonlinear matrix material behaviour on the composite is studied in a physically nonlinear FE simulation of the local material behaviour in the RVE ­ effective stress‐strain curves are computed and compared to experimental observations. The approach is currently augmented by a damage model for the fibre bundle. (© 2010 Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)