Towards Predictive Modelling of Composite Materials Behavior by Micro and Mesomechanics

Dear Colleagues,

Structural composites are, nowadays, materials that are extensively used in lightweight applications, ranging from sports and leisure to automotive, energy and aerospace. Structural reinforcements in the form of fibers are embedded in a matrix to provide materials with unique combinations of mechanical and functional properties. Such properties of composites are controlled by the matrix and reinforcement properties, as well as they relative volume fraction and spatial distribution. Micromechanics is aimed first to predict properties of heterogeneous materials at the microlevel from those of their constituents, and thus tailoring and screening properties become possible. The use of finite element to solve the boundary value problem of a representative volume element RVE opened revolutionary opportunities to study the effect of the microstructure on mechanical and physical properties of heterogeneous materials, including non-linear effects as plasticity and/or damage. On the top of that, micromechanics tries to provide designers with new constitutive equations for the mechanical and physical behavior that can be used in subsequent multiscale mesomechanical analysis of the materials. This Special Issue is aimed to show the latest advances in micro (ply level) and mesomechanical (laminate level) modelling of composite materials, including both numerical as well as experimental techniques to understand the effects of microstructure and lay-up on the relevant mechanical and physical properties of composites.

Prof. Dr. Carlos González
Dr. Cláudio S. Lopes
Guest Editors

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