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Multiscale Simulation of Composite Structures: Damage Assessment, Mechanical Analysis and Prediction

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A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Materials Simulation and Design".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2022) | Viewed by 36720

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Dr. Stelios K. Georgantzinos

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Department of Aerospace Science and Technology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 34400 Psachna, Greece
Interests: composite structures; nanocomposites; nanostructures; smart structures and systems; additive manufacturing; finite element method; design; modeling; computational analysis
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Dear Colleagues,

Composites can be engineered to exhibit a high strength, high stiffness, and high toughness. Composite structures have been used increasingly in various engineering applications. In the last decades, the most fundamentals of science have expanded their span of length by many orders of magnitude. Nowadays, one of the primary goals of science and technology seems to be the quest to develop reliable methods for linking the physical phenomena that occur over multiple length scales, particularly from a nano-/micro-scale to a macroscale. To engineer composites for high performance and to design advanced structures, the relationship between material nano-/micro-structures and their macroscopic properties must be established in order to accurately predict their mechanical performance and failure. Multiscale simulation is the enabling tool for the study and comprehension of complex systems and phenomena that would otherwise be too expensive or dangerous, or even impossible, to study by direct experimentation and, thus, to deal with this goal.

The aim of this Special Issue is to assemble high quality papers that advance the field of multiscale simulation of composite structures, through the application of any modern computational and/or analytical methods alone or in conjunction with experimental techniques, for damage assessment or mechanical analysis and prediction.

It is my pleasure to invite you to submit a manuscript for this Special Issue. Full papers, communications, and reviews are all welcome.

Prof. Stelios K. Georgantzinos
Guest Editor

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Keywords

composite structures
nanomechanics
micromechanics
homogenization methods
computational techniques
analytical methods
multiscale simulation
mechanical analysis
damage assessment
failure

Related Special Issue

Multiscale Simulation of Composite Structures: Damage Assessment, Mechanical Analysis and Prediction (Volume II) in Materials (1 article)

Published Papers (12 papers)

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Editorial

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5 pages, 190 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Multiscale Simulation of Composite Structures: Damage Assessment, Mechanical Analysis and Prediction

by Stelios K. Georgantzinos

Materials 2022, 15(18), 6494; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15186494 - 19 Sep 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1281

Abstract

Composites can be engineered to exhibit high strength, high stiffness, and high toughness. Composite structures have been used increasingly in various engineering applications. In recent decades, most fundamentals of science have expanded their reach by many orders of magnitude. Currently, one of the primary goals of science and technology seems to be the quest to develop reliable methods for linking the physical phenomena that occur over multiple length scales, particularly from a nano-/micro-scale to a macroscale. The aim of this Special Issue is to assemble high quality papers that advance the field of multiscale simulation of composite structures, through the application of any modern computational and/or analytical methods alone or in conjunction with experimental techniques, for damage assessment or mechanical analysis and prediction. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multiscale Simulation of Composite Structures: Damage Assessment, Mechanical Analysis and Prediction)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

18 pages, 519 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Simple Matlab Code for Material Design Optimization Using Reduced Order Models

by George Kazakis and Nikos D. Lagaros

Materials 2022, 15(14), 4972; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15144972 - 17 Jul 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2930

Abstract

The main part of the computational cost required for solving the problem of optimal material design with extreme properties using a topology optimization formulation is devoted to solving the equilibrium system of equations derived through the implementation of the finite element method (FEM). To reduce this computational cost, among other methodologies, various model order reduction (MOR) approaches can be utilized. In this work, a simple Matlab code for solving the topology optimization for the design of materials combined with three different model order reduction approaches is presented. The three MOR approaches presented in the code implementation are the proper orthogonal decomposition (POD), the on-the-fly reduced order model construction and the approximate reanalysis (AR) following the combined approximations approach. The complete code, containing all participating functions (including the changes made to the original ones), is provided. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multiscale Simulation of Composite Structures: Damage Assessment, Mechanical Analysis and Prediction)

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27 pages, 16281 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluation and Numerical Investigations of the Cyclic Behavior of Smart Composite Steel–Concrete Shear Wall: Comprehensive Study of Finite Element Model

by Hadee Mohammed Najm, Amer M. Ibrahim, Mohanad Muayad Sabri Sabri, Amer Hassan, Samadhan Morkhade, Nuha S. Mashaan, Moutaz Mustafa A. Eldirderi and Khaled Mohamed Khedher

Materials 2022, 15(13), 4496; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15134496 - 26 Jun 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1732

Abstract

The composite shear wall has various merits over the traditional reinforced concrete walls. Thus, several experimental studies have been reported in the literature in order to study the seismic behavior of composite shear walls. However, few numerical investigations were found in the previous literature because of difficulties in the interaction behavior of steel and concrete. This study aimed to present a numerical analysis of smart composite shear walls, which use an infilled steel plate and concrete. The study was carried out using the ANSYS software. The mechanical mechanisms between the web plate and concrete were investigated thoroughly. The results obtained from the finite element (FE) analysis show excellent agreement with the experimental test results in terms of the hysteresis curves, failure behavior, ultimate strength, initial stiffness, and ductility. The present numerical investigations were focused on the effects of the gap, thickness of infill steel plate, thickness of the concrete wall, and distance between shear studs on the composite steel plate shear wall (CSPSW) behavior. The results indicate that increasing the gap between steel plate and concrete wall from 0 mm to 40 mm improved the stiffness by 18% as compared to the reference model, which led to delay failures of this model. Expanding the infill steel plate thickness to 12 mm enhanced the stiffness and energy absorption with a ratio of 95% and 58%, respectively. This resulted in a gradual drop in the strength capacity of this model. Meanwhile, increasing concrete wall thickness to 150 mm enhanced the ductility and energy absorption with a ratio of 52% and 32%, respectively, which led to restricting the model and reduced lateral offset. Changing the distance between shear studs from 20% to 25% enhanced the ductility and energy absorption by about 66% and 32%, respectively. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multiscale Simulation of Composite Structures: Damage Assessment, Mechanical Analysis and Prediction)

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25 pages, 7987 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Flexural Strength of Internally Stiffened Tubular Steel Beam Filled with Recycled Concrete Materials

by Ahmed W. Al Zand, Mustafa M. Ali, Riyadh Al-Ameri, Wan Hamidon Wan Badaruzzaman, Wadhah M. Tawfeeq, Emad Hosseinpour and Zaher Mundher Yaseen

Materials 2021, 14(21), 6334; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14216334 - 23 Oct 2021

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2404

Abstract

The flexural strength of Slender steel tube sections is known to achieve significant improvements upon being filled with concrete material; however, this section is more likely to fail due to buckling under compression stresses. This study investigates the flexural behavior of a Slender steel tube beam that was produced by connecting two pieces of C-sections and was filled with recycled-aggregate concrete materials (CFST beam). The C-section’s lips behaved as internal stiffeners for the CFST beam’s cross-section. A static flexural test was conducted on five large scale specimens, including one specimen that was tested without concrete material (hollow specimen). The ABAQUS software was also employed for the simulation and non-linear analysis of an additional 20 CFST models in order to further investigate the effects of varied parameters that were not tested experimentally. The numerical model was able to adequately verify the flexural behavior and failure mode of the corresponding tested specimen, with an overestimation of the flexural strength capacity of about 3.1%. Generally, the study confirmed the validity of using the tubular C-sections in the CFST beam concept, and their lips (internal stiffeners) led to significant improvements in the flexural strength, stiffness, and energy absorption index. Moreover, a new analytical method was developed to specifically predict the bending (flexural) strength capacity of the internally stiffened CFST beams with steel stiffeners, which was well-aligned with the results derived from the current investigation and with those obtained by others. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multiscale Simulation of Composite Structures: Damage Assessment, Mechanical Analysis and Prediction)

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14 pages, 3864 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Thermomechanical Behavior of Bone-Shaped SWCNT/Polyethylene Nanocomposites via Molecular Dynamics

by Georgios I. Giannopoulos and Stylianos K. Georgantzinos

Materials 2021, 14(9), 2192; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14092192 - 24 Apr 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1513

Abstract

In the present study, the thermomechanical effects of adding a newly proposed nanoparticle within a polymer matrix such as polyethylene are being investigated. The nanoparticle is formed by a typical single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) and two equivalent giant carbon fullerenes that are attached with the nanotube edges through covalent bonds. In this way, a bone-shaped nanofiber is developed that may offer enhanced thermomechanical characteristics when used as a polymer filler, due to each unique shape and chemical nature. The investigation is based on molecular dynamics simulations of the tensile stress–strain response of polymer nanocomposites under a variety of temperatures. The thermomechanical behavior of the bone-shaped nanofiber-reinforced polyethylene is compared with that of an equivalent nanocomposite filled with ordinary capped single-walled carbon nanotubes, in order to reach some coherent fundamental conclusions. The study focuses on the evaluation of some basic, temperature-dependent properties of the nanocomposite reinforced with these innovative bone-shaped allotropes of carbon. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multiscale Simulation of Composite Structures: Damage Assessment, Mechanical Analysis and Prediction)

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15 pages, 3868 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Vibration Analysis of Carbon Fiber-Graphene-Reinforced Hybrid Polymer Composites Using Finite Element Techniques

by Stelios K. Georgantzinos, Georgios I. Giannopoulos and Stylianos I. Markolefas

Materials 2020, 13(19), 4225; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13194225 - 23 Sep 2020

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 3132

Abstract

In this study, a computational procedure for the investigation of the vibration behavior of laminated composite structures, including graphene inclusions in the matrix, is developed. Concerning the size-dependent behavior of graphene, its mechanical properties are derived using nanoscopic empiric equations. Using the appropriate Halpin-Tsai models, the equivalent elastic constants of the graphene reinforced matrix are obtained. Then, the orthotropic mechanical properties of a composite lamina of carbon fibers and hybrid matrix can be evaluated. Considering a specific stacking sequence and various geometric configurations, carbon fiber-graphene-reinforced hybrid composite plates are modeled using conventional finite element techniques. Applying simply support or clamped boundary conditions, the vibrational behavior of the composite structures are finally extracted. Specifically, the modes of vibration for every configuration are derived, as well as the effect of graphene inclusions in the natural frequencies, is calculated. The higher the volume fraction of graphene in the matrix, the higher the natural frequency for every mode. Comparisons with other methods, where it is possible, are performed for the validation of the proposed method. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multiscale Simulation of Composite Structures: Damage Assessment, Mechanical Analysis and Prediction)

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21 pages, 11317 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Thermomechanical Response of Fullerene-Reinforced Polymers by Coupling MD and FEM

by Georgios I. Giannopoulos, Stelios K. Georgantzinos and Nick K. Anifantis

Materials 2020, 13(18), 4132; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13184132 - 17 Sep 2020

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1815

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to provide a computationally efficient and reliable hybrid numerical formulation capable of characterizing the thermomechanical behavior of nanocomposites, which is based on the combination of molecular dynamics (MD) and the finite element method (FEM). A polymeric material is selected as the matrix—specifically, the poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) commonly known as Plexiglas due to its expanded applications. On the other hand, the fullerene C₂₄₀ is adopted as a reinforcement because of its high symmetry and suitable size. The numerical approach is performed at two scales. First, an analysis is conducted at the nanoscale by utilizing an appropriate nanocomposite unit cell containing the C₂₄₀ at a high mass fraction. A MD-only method is applied to accurately capture all the internal interfacial effects and accordingly its thermoelastic response. Then, a micromechanical, temperature-dependent finite element analysis takes place using a representative volume element (RVE), which incorporates the first-stage MD output, to study nanocomposites with small mass fractions, whose atomistic-only simulation would require a substantial computational effort. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme, numerous numerical results are presented while the investigation is performed in a temperature range that includes the PMMA glass transition temperature, T_g. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multiscale Simulation of Composite Structures: Damage Assessment, Mechanical Analysis and Prediction)

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27 pages, 12208 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Parametric Investigation of Particle Swarm Optimization to Improve the Performance of the Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System in Determining the Buckling Capacity of Circular Opening Steel Beams

by Quang Hung Nguyen, Hai-Bang Ly, Tien-Thinh Le, Thuy-Anh Nguyen, Viet-Hung Phan, Van Quan Tran and Binh Thai Pham

Materials 2020, 13(10), 2210; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13102210 - 12 May 2020

Cited by 26 | Viewed by 2904

Abstract

In this paper, the main objectives are to investigate and select the most suitable parameters used in particle swarm optimization (PSO), namely the number of rules (n_rule), population size (n_pop), initial weight (w_ini), personal learning coefficient (c₁), global learning coefficient (c₂), and velocity limits (f_v), in order to improve the performance of the adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system in determining the buckling capacity of circular opening steel beams. This is an important mechanical property in terms of the safety of structures under subjected loads. An available database of 3645 data samples was used for generation of training (70%) and testing (30%) datasets. Monte Carlo simulations, which are natural variability generators, were used in the training phase of the algorithm. Various statistical measurements, such as root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE), Willmott’s index of agreement (IA), and Pearson’s coefficient of correlation (R), were used to evaluate the performance of the models. The results of the study show that the performance of ANFIS optimized by PSO (ANFIS-PSO) is suitable for determining the buckling capacity of circular opening steel beams, but is very sensitive under different PSO investigation and selection parameters. The findings of this study show that n_rule = 10, n_pop = 50, w_ini = 0.1 to 0.4, c₁ = [1, 1.4], c₂ = [1.8, 2], f_v = 0.1, which are the most suitable selection values to ensure the best performance for ANFIS-PSO. In short, this study might help in selection of suitable PSO parameters for optimization of the ANFIS model. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multiscale Simulation of Composite Structures: Damage Assessment, Mechanical Analysis and Prediction)

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25 pages, 5584 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Optimization of Artificial Intelligence System by Evolutionary Algorithm for Prediction of Axial Capacity of Rectangular Concrete Filled Steel Tubes under Compression

by Hung Quang Nguyen, Hai-Bang Ly, Van Quan Tran, Thuy-Anh Nguyen, Tien-Thinh Le and Binh Thai Pham

Materials 2020, 13(5), 1205; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13051205 - 07 Mar 2020

Cited by 71 | Viewed by 6136

Abstract

Concrete filled steel tubes (CFSTs) show advantageous applications in the field of construction, especially for a high axial load capacity. The challenge in using such structure lies in the selection of many parameters constituting CFST, which necessitates defining complex relationships between the components and the corresponding properties. The axial capacity (P_u) of CFST is among the most important mechanical properties. In this study, the possibility of using a feedforward neural network (FNN) to predict P_u was investigated. Furthermore, an evolutionary optimization algorithm, namely invasive weed optimization (IWO), was used for tuning and optimizing the FNN weights and biases to construct a hybrid FNN–IWO model and improve its prediction performance. The results showed that the FNN–IWO algorithm is an excellent predictor of P_u, with a value of R² of up to 0.979. The advantage of FNN–IWO was also pointed out with the gains in accuracy of 47.9%, 49.2%, and 6.5% for root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE), and R², respectively, compared with simulation using the single FNN. Finally, the performance in predicting the P_u in the function of structural parameters such as depth/width ratio, thickness of steel tube, yield stress of steel, concrete compressive strength, and slenderness ratio was investigated and discussed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multiscale Simulation of Composite Structures: Damage Assessment, Mechanical Analysis and Prediction)

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15 pages, 6418 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Numerical Modelling of Ballistic Impact Response at Low Velocity in Aramid Fabrics

by Norberto Feito, José Antonio Loya, Ana Muñoz-Sánchez and Raj Das

Materials 2019, 12(13), 2087; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma12132087 - 28 Jun 2019

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3448

Abstract

In this study, the effect of the impact angle of a projectile during low-velocity impact on Kevlar fabrics has been investigated using a simplified numerical model. The implementation of mesoscale models is complex and usually involves long computation time, in contrast to the practical industry needs to obtain accurate results rapidly. In addition, when the simulation includes more than one layer of composite ply, the computational time increases even in the case of hybrid models. With the goal of providing useful and rapid prediction tools to the industry, a simplified model has been developed in this work. The model offers an advantage in the reduced computational time compared to a full 3D model (around a 90% faster). The proposed model has been validated against equivalent experimental and numerical results reported in the literature with acceptable deviations and accuracies for design requirements. The proposed numerical model allows the study of the influence of the geometry on the impact response of the composite. Finally, after a parametric study related to the number of layers and angle of impact, using a response surface methodology, a mechanistic model and a surface diagram have been presented in order to help with the calculation of the ballistic limit. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multiscale Simulation of Composite Structures: Damage Assessment, Mechanical Analysis and Prediction)

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24 pages, 8529 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Semi-Empirical Deflection-Based Method for Crack Width Prediction in Accelerated Construction of Steel Fibrous High-Performance Composite Small Box Girder

by Bishnu Gupt Gautam, Yi-Qiang Xiang, Zheng Qiu and Shu-Hai Guo

Materials 2019, 12(6), 964; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma12060964 - 22 Mar 2019

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 4154

Abstract

Accelerated construction in the form of steel–concrete composite beams is among the most efficient methods to construct highway bridges. One of the main problems with this type of composite structures, which has not yet been fully clarified in the case of continuous beam, is the crack zone initiation that gradually expands through the beam width. In the current study, a semi-empirical model was proposed to predict the size of cracks in terms of small box girder deflection and intensity of load applied on the structure. To this end, a set of steel–concrete composite small box girders were constructed by the use of steel fibrous concrete and experimentally tested under different caseloads. The results were then used to create a dataset of the box girder response in terms of beam deflection and crack width. The obtained dataset was then utilized to develop a simplified formula providing the maximum width of cracks. The results showed that the cracks initiated in the hogging moment region when the load exceeded 80 kN. Additionally, it was observed that the maximum cracked zone occurred in the center of the beam due to the maximum negative moment. Moreover, the crack width of the box girder at different loading cases was compared with the test results obtained from the literature. A good agreement has been found between the proposed model and experiment results. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multiscale Simulation of Composite Structures: Damage Assessment, Mechanical Analysis and Prediction)

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19 pages, 7045 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Progressive Failure Simulation of Notched Tensile Specimen for Triaxially-Braided Composites

by Zhenqiang Zhao, Haoyuan Dang, Jun Xing, Xi Li, Chao Zhang, Wieslaw K. Binienda and Yulong Li

Materials 2019, 12(5), 833; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma12050833 - 12 Mar 2019

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3680

Abstract

The mechanical characterization of textile composites is a challenging task, due to their nonuniform deformation and complicated failure phenomena. This article introduces a three-dimensional mesoscale finite element model to investigate the progressive damage behavior of a notched single-layer triaxially-braided composite subjected to axial tension. The damage initiation and propagation in fiber bundles are simulated using three-dimensional failure criteria and damage evolution law. A traction–separation law has been applied to predict the interfacial damage of fiber bundles. The proposed model is correlated and validated by the experimentally measured full field strain distributions and effective strength of the notched specimen. The progressive damage behavior of the fiber bundles is studied by examining the damage and stress contours at different loading stages. Parametric numerical studies are conducted to explore the role of modeling parameters and geometric characteristics on the internal damage behavior and global measured properties of the notched specimen. Moreover, the correlations of damage behavior, global stress–strain response, and the efficiency of the notched specimen are discussed in detail. The results of this paper deliver a throughout understanding of the damage behavior of braided composites and can help the specimen design of textile composites. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multiscale Simulation of Composite Structures: Damage Assessment, Mechanical Analysis and Prediction)

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