Practical Aspects of Micromechanics Based Simulation of Polymer Matrix Composites

Abstract

As particle filled and fiber reinforced polymer matrix composites are frequently used in many demanding industrial applications, the proper prediction of the deformation behavior of these materials is of high practical importance for a reliable product design. To predict the thermo-mechanical behavior, micromechanics based simulations were performed using both the mean field homogenization methods (MFH) and full-scale finite element (FS-FE simulations on a material specific representative volume. The applicability and limitations of both methods are introduced based on five different practical examples. Both thermoplastic polymers and elastomers were used as matrix materials with combination of fillers made from different materials having different aspect ratio and revealing a wide variation of alignments and arrangements. While conventionally the behavior of composites revealing processing induced microstructure is predicted for practical engineering applications, novel artificial micro-structures revealing special functionalities might also be designed and their behavior predicted for supporting material development efforts.