Homogenization of heterogeneous polymers (Q1302801)

Composite materials are used for load carrying components in structures, since their mechanical properties, such as strength, stiffness, and toughness are being improved continuously. On the microscopic level, these materials reveal a structure in which different components can be distinguished. When developing new materials, insight in these phenomena is required. Relations between micromechanical failure and the macroscopic deformation behavior are necessary for predicting macroscopic properties from the microstructure. In this paper, a perforated polycarbonate plate is used as a model material. The mechanical behavior of the representative volume element is described by compressible Leonov model, which accounts for the time-dependent large strain behavior characteristic for solid polymers. At the macroscopic level, nonlinear elastic Cosserat mechanics is applied to the equivalent homogeneous material. It is shown how to determine the macroscopic constitutive equations for equivalent continuum. As applications, a tensile test on a single edge notched specimen is discussed and compared to direct simulations.