Macroscale Behavior Research Articles

A direct fiber approach to model sclera collagen architecture and biomechanics

Sclera collagen fiber microstructure and mechanical behavior are central to eye physiology and pathology. They are also complex, and are therefore often studied using modeling. Most models of sclera, however, have been built within a conventional continuum framework. In this framework, collagen fibers are incorporated as statistical distributions of fiber characteristics such as the orientation of a family of fibers. The conventional continuum approach, while proven successful for describing the macroscale behavior of the sclera, does not account for the sclera fibers are long, interwoven and interact with one another. Hence, by not considering these potentially crucial characteristics, the conventional approach has only a limited ability to capture and describe sclera structure and mechanics at smaller, fiber-level, scales. Recent advances in the tools for characterizing sclera microarchitecture and mechanics bring to the forefront the need to develop more advanced modeling techniques that can incorporate and take advantage of the newly available highly detailed information. Our goal was to create a new computational modeling approach that can represent the sclera fibrous microstructure more accurately than with the conventional continuum approach, while still capturing its macroscale behavior. In this manuscript we introduce the new modeling approach, that we call direct fiber modeling, in which the collagen architecture is built explicitly by long, continuous, interwoven fibers. The fibers are embedded in a continuum matrix representing the non-fibrous tissue components. We demonstrate the approach by doing direct fiber modeling of a rectangular patch of posterior sclera. The model integrated fiber orientations obtained by polarized light microscopy from coronal and sagittal cryosections of pig and sheep. The fibers were modeled using a Mooney-Rivlin model, and the matrix using a Neo-Hookean model. The fiber parameters were determined by inversely matching experimental equi-biaxial tensile data from the literature. After reconstruction, the direct fiber model orientations agreed well with the microscopy data both in the coronal plane (adjusted R2 = 0.8234) and in the sagittal plane (adjusted R2 = 0.8495) of the sclera. With the estimated fiber properties (C10 = 5746.9 MPa; C01 = −5002.6 MPa, matrix shear modulus 200 kPa), the model's stress-strain curves simultaneously fit the experimental data in radial and circumferential directions (adjusted R2's 0.9971 and 0.9508, respectively). The estimated fiber elastic modulus at 2.16% strain was 5.45 GPa, in reasonable agreement with the literature. During stretch, the model exhibited stresses and strains at sub-fiber level, with interactions among individual fibers which are not accounted for by the conventional continuum methods. Our results demonstrate that direct fiber models can simultaneously describe the macroscale mechanics and microarchitecture of the sclera, and therefore that the approach can provide unique insight into tissue behavior questions inaccessible with continuum approaches.

Clay-bacteria interaction: Effect of bacterial cell density on sedimentation behavior and fabric map of kaolinite clay

Clay-bacteria interactions are ubiquitous and the presence of bacteria has a pronounced effect on the mechanical, chemical, and electrical behaviors of clays. However, the role of microscale clay-bacteria interactions to the macro-scale engineering behaviors and properties of clays remains poorly understood. This study presents changes in the microstructure of kaolinite in association with bacteria and the resulting sedimentation behavior of bacterium-associated kaolin suspensions. Sedimentation tests were performed using suspensions composed of kaolin and model bacteria Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 while varying the fluid pH and cell density. The results reveal that kaolinite presents face-to-face aggregated microstructures with the presence of bacteria, attributable to sharing and/or exchange of cations between kaolinite and bacterial cells. Meanwhile, at a pH value lower than the isoelectric point of the kaolinite edge surfaces, the clay-bacteria association appears less pronounced comparing to the higher pH, owing to the competition between negative (kaolinite faces and bacteria surfaces) over positive (kaolinite edges) charges. The fabric change caused by kaolinite-bacteria association accelerates kaolin settling and reduces the final void ratios. A fabric map for bacterium-asssociated kaolinite is suggested based on the sedimentation behaviors and scanning electron microscopy observations. This study advances the understanding of particle-level clay-bacteria interactions and the sedimentation behavior of clays in suspensions with vigorous microbial activities.

Treatment of fractured concrete via microbially induced carbonate precipitation: From micro-scale characteristics to macro-scale behaviour

The development of techniques for concrete repair will reduce environmental impacts associated with concrete usage by extending the lifespan of existing structures. This study investigates microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) for treating fractured concrete. Our results demonstrate the excellent penetrability of MICP with precipitates well-distributed along core length. Some individual treatment cycles resulted in – one order of magnitude reduction in core permeability. Treatment efficiency is shown to be dependent on fracture network characteristics, i.e. number of fractures, fracture orientation, initial hydraulic aperture. Furthermore, bridging of precipitates across fracture surfaces resulted in a recovery of 26–50% of initial tensile strength.

Conjugate natural convection along regularly ribbed vertical surfaces: A homogenization-based study

Natural convection heat transfer from periodically ribbed vertical surfaces is targeted for upscaling, incorporating the analysis of thermal conduction through the microscale ribs. Asymptotic homogenization theory is employed, considering the steady conjugate heat transfer problem, to formulate second-order accurate effective conditions for velocity and temperature at a fictitious plane surface, beyond which the macroscale behavior of the flow is computed. This allows to avoid the numerically expensive resolution of fields within and through the microstructured corrugations. For the streamwise velocity component, the no-slip boundary condition is corrected at first order (in terms of a small parameter ϵ , ratio of microscopic to macroscopic length scales) by the classical Navier-slip condition plus a buoyancy term, while the gradient of the normal stress appears at second order together with a temperature-gradient term. The temperature at the virtual boundary deviates from the uniform value at the baseplate; the thermal slip is described via a first-order temperature-gradient term with a coefficient depending on rib geometry and thermal conductivity. Different case studies are conducted on the case of transverse square ribs, varying the density of the pattern and the rib-to-fluid thermal conductivity ratio, to provide extensive validation of the model against full feature-resolving simulations. Beyond the validation phase, a better understanding of the effects of different parameters on the heat transfer performance is pursued. The presence of ribs is found to decrease the overall heat transfer rate from the surface, and this deterioration is only partially alleviated by raising the thermal conductivity of the ribs. Increasing the number of conducting ribs on the hot surface has a complex, non-monotonic effect on the heat transfer rate, unlike the case of adiabatic ribs where the average Nusselt number decays monotonically. The performance of low-thermal-conductivity elements (e.g. wooden ribs) may considerably differ from that of perfectly adiabatic ones.

Deformation behavior of plasma sprayed Fe-based amorphous/ nanocrystalline coating under multi-scale tribological contact

Deformation behavior of Fe-based amorphous/ nanocrystalline coating synthesized by plasma spraying has been studied under multi-scale tribological contact. Nano- and micro-scale scratch investigation under constant and ramped loading revealed that deformation occurred mainly through plowing of coating surface by the probe. During low load (nano-scale) scratch tests, shear band generation was detected in the form of serrations in lateral force/ coefficient of friction curves under both constant (2 and 5 mN) and ramped (0–5 mN) loading conditions. Prominent shear bands around the scratch track with lesser fracture/ chipping were observed at high load (micro-scale) under ramped loading. Further, high load nanoscratch test under constant loading revealed aggravated fracture and chipping on the coating surface. Macro-scale deformation behavior studied using ball-on-disc dry sliding wear test at constant applied load (10 N) revealed that dominating wear mechanism in the coating was fatigue accompanied by abrasive and oxidative wear.

On the geometrical scaling of hydrocarbon detonation dynamics

The present communication examines the geometrical scaling of highly unstable detonations by extending the authors’ very recent methodology to analyze the dynamics of hydrocarbon detonations in three-dimensional (3D) circular tubes and two-dimensional (2D) narrow channels. With the effective induction zone length as the normalization scale, dynamics of detonations in each hydrocarbon mixture can be successfully unified, irrespective of the geometry sizes. In terms of these unified dynamics of detonations subject to boundary-layer-induced curvature losses, the experiments have been demonstrated to be in excellent agreement with the theoretically expected geometrical scaling of 2:1 between 3D and 2D geometries. This experimentally confirmed perfect geometrical scaling contributes to the community good news that, even for the intractable highly unstable detonations, their macro-scale behaviors shall permit quasi-steady 1D modelling while neglecting the multi-dimensional cellular structures. Furthermore, these unified dynamics were demonstrated to show no dependence on fuel-oxidizer equivalence ratios and as well the argon dilutions, whose universality appears to be governed by the effective activation energy rather than the well-known detonation instability of mixtures.

Autogenous deformation induced- stress evolution in high-volume GGBFS concrete: Macro-scale behavior and micro-scale origin

This study aims to experimentally investigate the autogenous deformation and the stress evolution in restrained high-volume ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) concrete. The Temperature Stress Testing Machine (TSTM) and Autogenous Deformation Testing Machine (ADTM) were used to study the macro-scale autogenous deformation and stress evolution of high-volume GGBFS concrete with w/b ratios of 0.35, 0.42, and 0.50. The early-age cracking (EAC) risk (quantified by stress-strength ratio) and stress relaxation were analyzed extensively based on ADTM and TSTM results. Furthermore, Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy (ESEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), and Mercury Intrusion Porosimetry (MIP) were conducted to explore the micro-scale origin of the autogenous deformation of high-volume GGBFS concrete, which supports the observations on the macroscale measurement of TSTM/ ADTM tests. This study finds that the ettringite formation in the first two days results in autogenous expansion, which can delay the appearance of tensile stress. The magnitude of autogenous expansion depends on the compatibility of ettringite content and pore size. The w/b ratio of 0.42 turns out to be optimal because it produces the highest amount of ettringite and results in the highest autogenous expansion. In comparison, the w/b ratio of 0.35 introduces significant autogenous shrinkage after the expansion peak and therefore corresponds to a high early-age cracking risk.

High-strain rate compressive behavior of concrete with two different substituted recycled plastic aggregates: Experimental characterization and probabilistic modeling

This paper presents a pilot study on the characterization of the high-strain rate compressive behavior of a novel concrete with two different substituted recycled plastic aggregates. A reference mix with an average compressive strength of about 55MPa is considered. Recycled PolyEthylene Terephthalate (PET) powder and recycled mixed plastic (composed of PolyPropylene (PP) and PolyEthylene (PE)) granules were adopted to substitute fine and coarse aggregates. Two different substitution strategies are employed. In the first one, the PET powder is used to substitute the fine sand by volume. In the second one, the PET powder is used to substitute the fine sand while the recycled mixed plastic granules are used to substitute the coarse sand and fine coarse aggregates by volume (50% for PET powder and 50% for recycled mixed plastic granules). Four total replacement levels (5%, 10%, 20%, and 30%) by volume were considered. The fresh concrete properties (slump and density) and quasi-static compressive behavior, are investigated. The micro-scale characterization of the material using SEM scans provided a complete understanding of the observed macro-scale behavior. Tests were performed using conventional quasi-static loading with a compressive testing machine and high-strain rate tests with a Φ80-mm Split-Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB) for strain rates up to 200s−1. The dynamic tests revealed the marked strain rate dependency, although specimens with large plastic volume substitution were more sensitive to the strain rate effect. A probabilistic data-driven model for the Dynamic Increase Factor (DIF) is also proposed based on the test data. Ultimately, this study indicates that the proposed material has a good high-strain rate compressive behavior and can be a promising material to be employed for protective techniques against impact and blast loads.

Uncertainty quantification of multi-scale resilience in networked systems with nonlinear dynamics using arbitrary polynomial chaos

Complex systems derive sophisticated behavioral dynamics by connecting individual component dynamics via a complex network. The resilience of complex systems is a critical ability to regain desirable behavior after perturbations. In the past years, our understanding of large-scale networked resilience is largely confined to proprietary agent-based simulations or topological analysis of graphs. However, we know the dynamics and topology both matter and the impact of model uncertainty of the system remains unsolved, especially on individual nodes. In order to quantify the effect of uncertainty on resilience across the network resolutions (from macro-scale network statistics to individual node dynamics), we employ an arbitrary polynomial chaos (aPC) expansion method to identify the probability of a node in losing its resilience and how the different model parameters contribute to this risk on a single node. We test this using both a generic networked bi-stable system and also established ecological and work force commuter network dynamics to demonstrate applicability. This framework will aid practitioners to both understand macro-scale behavior and make micro-scale interventions.

Optimal heat transport induced by magnetic nanoparticle delivery in vascularised tumours

We describe a novel mathematical model for blood flow, delivery of nanoparticles, and heat transport in vascularised tumour tissue. The model, which is derived via the asymptotic homogenisation technique, provides a link between the macroscale behaviour of the system and its underlying, tortuous micro-structure, as parametrised in Penta and Ambrosi (2015). It consists of a double Darcy’s law, coupled with a double advection–diffusion–reaction system describing heat transport, and an advection–diffusion–reaction equation for transport and adhesion of particles. Particles are assumed sufficiently large and do not extravasate to the tumour interstitial space but blood and heat can be exchanged between the two compartments. Numerical simulations of the model are performed using a finite element method to investigate cancer hyperthermia induced by the application of magnetic field applied to injected iron oxide nanoparticles. Since tumour microvasculature is more tortuous than that of healthy tissue and thus suboptimal in terms of fluid and drug transport, we study the influence of the vessels’ geometry on tumour temperature. Effective and safe hyperthermia treatment requires tumour temperature within certain target range, generally estimated between 42 °C and 46 °C, for a certain target duration, typically 0.5h to 2h. As temperature is difficult to measure in situ, we use our model to determine the ranges of tortuosity of the microvessels, magnetic intensity, injection time, wall shear stress rate, and concentration of nanoparticles required to achieve given target conditions.

A network-based investigation on the strong contact system of granular materials under isotropic and deviatoric stress states

The contact network is essential in linking the macroscale and microscale behaviors of granular materials. Particles and contacts are equivalent to nodes and links in the framework of the complex network graph, and then the network-based metrics can be applied to assess the network topology of granular materials. In this paper, several series of 3D DEM simulations are carried out, including isotropic compression and deviatoric loading tests for assemblies with different particle size distributions. The topological features, such as cluster size, connectivity, network distance and betweenness centrality, are captured for strong force subnetworks with different force thresholds in granular materials. It is found that the particle size distribution does not influence the general topological characteristics of granular materials, and the percolation is observed in the strong network with a proper force threshold for all granular samples. Chained features are consistently identified for strong networks extracted by around 1.5 times the average contact force at all stress states, and this force threshold also supports a giant cluster spanning the overall granular system. Assemblies under deviatoric states exhibit more identical features in strong network topology than that under isotropic states, giving a hint to understanding the structural uniqueness of granular mechanics.

Recent progress in understanding setting and hardening of alkali-activated slag (AAS) materials

Alkali-activated slag (AAS with type of slag being blast-furnace slag) binders possesses substantially different hydration mechanisms from Portland cement (PC) binders, leading to distinct setting and hardening behavior. Due to the highly amorphous nature of both of raw materials and hydration products, the characterization of hydrate assemblages and microstructural development of AAS materials is challenging. In the past decades, there has been increasing investigation interests in disclosing the nature of aluminum and sodium containing calcium silicate hydrate gel with undefined stoichiometry (C-(N-)A-S-H) along with the existence of intimately intermixed secondary phases. This paper provides an overview on the recent research progress and understanding of the complex alkali-activation reaction process from the perspectives of hydration kinetics, products and microstructure development. This is critical to the interpretation and control of setting and hardening of AAS materials at the early age. In addition, based on available information, hydration mechanisms of different AAS binders are proposed. For such a complex system, thermodynamic modelling and molecular dynamic modelling have shown their power to correlate the microstructure development and the macroscale behavior of AAS materials, which are discussed in this paper.

Light-Controlled Triple-Shape-Memory, High-Permittivity Dynamic Elastomer for Wearable Multifunctional Information Encoding Devices.

Self-powered information encoding devices (IEDs) have drawn considerable interest owing to their capability to process information without batteries. Next-generation IEDs should be reprogrammable, self-healing, and wearable to satisfy the emerging requirements for multifunctional IEDs; however, such devices have not been demonstrated. Herein, an integrated triboelectric nanogenerator-based IED with the aforementioned features was developed based on the designed light-responsive high-permittivity poly(sebacoyl diglyceride-co-4,4'-azodibenzoyl diglyceride) elastomer (PSeDAE) with a triple-shape-memory effect. The electrical memory feature was achieved through a microscale shape-memory property, enabling spatiotemporal information reprogramming for the IED. Macroscale shape-memory behavior afforded the IED shape-reprogramming ability, yielding wearable and detachable features. The dynamic transesterifications and light-heating groups in the PSeDAE afforded a remotely controlled rearrangement of its cross-linking network, producing the self-healing IED.

Investigation of aluminum dust cloud dispersion characteristics in an explosion hazard testing device using laser-based particle and flow diagnostics

Monitoring the dust cloud dispersion process inside testing equipment like the MIKE3 minimum ignition energy device is useful for assessing the ignitability characteristics of different dust materials. However, it is difficult to comprehensively capture the relevant micro-scale particle properties and macro-scale flow behavior of a dust cloud dispersion using a single measurement method. Thus, the objective of this work is to combine two complementary laser diagnostic techniques to obtain quantitative particle and flow properties from dust clouds in the MIKE3 glass tube. For this experiment, thirty repeated runs for each method were conducted using small (15-mg) aluminum powder samples. No ignition electrodes are included in the test geometry to establish a baseline flow configuration for the glass tube, although measurements are still made at the characteristic time delay and location of ignition tests. The first technique, digital in-line holography (DIH) is used for three-dimensional micro-scale particle diagnostics, yielding particle number (n = 78 ± 20), size (D̅ = 18.9 ± 0.6 µm), and three-component velocity (v̅x = 0.05 ± 0.05 m/s, v̅y = 0.60 ± 0.09 m/s, v̅z = − 0.07 ± 0.16 m/s) measurements. The second laser diagnostic technique, particle image velocimetry (PIV), is used for macro-scale flow diagnostics, yielding two-dimensional flow velocity and vorticity vector field measurements. Particle sizes are observed to follow a lognormal distribution (μ = 2.89, σ = 0.31), and a discrepancy between in-situ and ex-situ sizing results is identified for particle sizes larger than ~55 µm. Two-dimensional particle velocities follow a Weibull distribution (θ = 0.86, β = 2.12), and reasonable agreement is found between the DIH and PIV velocity measurements.

Analysis of damage and fracture behavior in ductile metal sheets undergoing compression and shear preloading

The present paper comprises the experimental and numerical analysis of damage and fracture behavior of ductile metals under non-proportional loading with compression and shear preloading. For this purpose, biaxial experiments with the H-specimen using a pneumatic downholder for compression loading followed by failure under a tension stress state and corresponding numerical simulations are performed and analyzed. A thermodynamically consistent anisotropic continuum model is presented. It takes the effects of micromechanical damage mechanisms on the macro scale behavior as a motivation for a phenomenological description of damage behavior as a function of stress state. The experimental findings are compared with the results of tests with proportional load paths and corresponding numerical simulations. Thereto, strain fields of the critical areas of the specimens are analyzed by means of digital image correlation (DIC) technique. Compression and shear preloading can lead to significantly reduced ductility of the material with initiation of failure processes in the small damage strain range. Evolution of numerically predicted plastic and damage equivalent strains illustrates their stress state dependence. The numerical results are also confirmed by images of fracture surfaces taken by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). This experimental-numerical methodology is therefore an efficient tool to develop and validate general modeling approaches, and it is characterized by almost arbitrarily definable load paths with changes in stress states occurring in forming processes.

Identification of RVE length scale in fiber composites via combined optical and SEM digital image correlation

The representative volume element (RVE) in fiber composites refers to the smallest volume of material that contains all constituents of the composite, i.e., fiber and matrix, and is a domain in which the homogenization of microscale response will lead to the macroscale behavior. Therefore, the RVE size in fiber composites is the length scale at which micro to macroscale transition occurs. In this work, a multiscale experimental approach is developed to experimentally characterize the length scale of RVE in a carbon fiber composite with a random fiber distribution. The approach is based on combining optical and scanning electron microscope (SEM) digital image correlation (DIC) measurements. A statistical procedure based on spatial averaging of local strain data is applied to the strain fields obtained from optical and SEM DIC measurements. The convergence between local strains averaged over a carefully selected domain and global strains is used as the criterion for identifying the RVE size in the examined composite. The RVE sizes determined using this approach are stress dependent and increase with the evolution of internal damage in the composite.

Computationally efficient higher-order three-scale method for nonlocal gradient elasticity problems of heterogeneous structures with multiple spatial scales

In this work, an innovative higher-order three-scale (HOTS) computational approach is developed, which can handle and simulate the nonlocal strain-stress gradient elasticity model of heterogeneous structures with multiple spatial scales. The significant characteristics of this study are: (i) the raw fourth-order nonlocal gradient elasticity equations with three-scale structural characteristics are decoupled as the new multi-scale second-order equations for reducing the continuity requirements for multi-scale computational method. (ii) a new micro-meso-macro coupled HOTS computational model for accurately analyzing the nonlocal gradient elasticity behaviors of heterogeneous structures with three-scale structural configurations is rigorously devised by virtue of multi-scale asymptotic analysis. (iii) the small-scale approximate performance of HOTS solutions is derived in the pointwise sense, that illustrates the crucial indispensability of establishing the HOTS solutions for capturing the micro-scale, meso-scale and macro-scale gradient elasticity behaviors of the heterogeneous structures accurately. (iv) the efficient three-scale numerical algorithm on the basis of finite element method (FEM) is presented at length. Finally, several numerical experiments are carried out to validate the applicability of the established HOTS computational methodology, presenting not only the excellent numerical accuracy, but also the advanced computational efficiency. This work provides a unified three-scale computational framework which enables the accurate analysis and efficient simulation of nonlocal strain-stress gradient elasticity problems of heterogeneous structures with multiple spatial scales, and provides a potential application for practical engineering computation.

Experimental study on the monotonic mechanical behavior of completely decomposed granite soil reinforced by disposable face-mask chips

In response to the global outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), a staggering amount of personal protective equipment, such as disposable face masks, has been used, leading to the urgent environmental issue. This study evaluates the feasibility of mask chips for the soil reinforcement, through triaxial tests on samples mixed with complete decomposed granite (CDG) and mask chips (0%, 0.3%, 0.5%, 1%, 5% by volume). The experimental results show that adding a moderate volumetric amount of mask chips (0.3%–1%) improves the soil strength, especially under high confining pressure. The optimum volumetric content of mask chips obtained by this study is 0.5%, raising the peak shear strength up to 22.3% under the confining stress of 120 kPa. When the volumetric content of mask chips exceeds the optimum value, the peak shear strength decreases accordingly. A limited amount of mask chips also increases the elastic modulus and makes the volumetric response more dilative. By contrast, excessive mask chips create additional voids and shift the strong soil-mask contacts to weak mask-mask contacts. The laser scanning microscope (LSM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) images on the typical samples demonstrate the microstructure of mask fibers interlocking with soil particles, highly supporting the macro-scale mechanical behavior.

Residual mechanical performance of lightweight fiber-reinforced geopolymer mortar composites incorporating expanded clay after elevated temperatures

This research provides an experimental investigation on the properties of fiber reinforced composite materials consisting of lightweight expanded clay aggregates (LECA) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fibers. The influence of temperature (room temperature, 250°C, and 500°C) on the lightweight geopolymer mortar (LWGM) composite materials is also explored. LECA is used as a partial replacement to river sand with 60% and 80%. The base material utilized for LWGM is slag activated by a mixture of sodium silicate and sodium hydroxide solutions. The fresh properties in terms of workability and density were performed. A series of experiments, such as compression, flexural and uniaxial tensile strength tests, were executed to assess the mechanical properties of LWGM composite materials. In addition, the microscopic variations due to the elevated temperature were also evaluated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to understand the macro-scale behavior of the samples. The results indicated that increasing the level of LECA replacement caused a reduction in the density and compressive strength of the LWGM. Also, incorporating a 1% PVA fiber volume fraction significantly enhanced the flexural and uniaxial tensile behavior of LWGM composite materials. The compressive strength enhancements were observed at 250°C due to further geopolymerization, while compressive strength reductions were obtained at 500°C due to the vapor impact and difference in thermal expansion. In addition, the load-carrying capacity of all samples increased, and displacement capacity decreased under flexural tests at 250°C. However, the ductile behavior of the PVA incorporating specimens changed to brittle due to the melting of PVA fibers.

A concurrent three-scale scheme FE-SCA[formula omitted] for the nonlinear mechanical behavior of braided composites

An efficient and accurate multiscale modeling for the mechanical behavior of braided composites with complex microstructure is an outstanding challenge in the mechanics of composite materials. In this work, a concurrent three-scale scheme FE-SCA2 is proposed for predicting the macroscopic nonlinear behavior of braided composites associated with the microscopic plastic and damage of the constituents, where FE and SCA are short for finite element method and self-consistent clustering analysis, respectively. In this concurrent scheme, the macroscale behavior of the braided composites is handled by FE analysis, and the microscale and mesoscale behavior of the constituents are handled by SCA simultaneously with the data-driven clustering discretization. To demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed scheme, we first predict the asymmetric anisotropic yield and failure surfaces for braided composites and then analyze the nonlinear behavior of a braided composite plate under bending. The computational results are compared with FE method results and experimental data from the literature, with good agreement in cases where such data is available. It is shown that the microscale, mesoscale, and macroscale nonlinear behavior of braided composites can be captured simultaneously using the proposed FE-SCA2, which would be difficult to be characterized by experimental methods. The proposed multiscale method could be applied for composite structures with various properties of micro-structures and constituents to expedite the design and structural optimization.