Ijest NG Vol3 No1 pp52 68h

International Journal of Engineering, Science And Technology
Vol. 3, No. 1, 2011, pp. 52-68
MultiCraft
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL OF
ENGINEERING,
SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY
www.ijest-ng.com
2011 MultiCraft Limited. All rights reserved
Analysis of particles loaded fiber composites for the evaluation of effective

material properties with the variation of shape and size
V. K. Srivastava1*, U. Gabbert2, H. Berger2, Shraddha Singh3
2
1*
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Institute of Technology,Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi-221005, INDIA
Institute of Mechanics, Otto- von Guericke University of Magdeburg, Universitaetsplatz 2, D-39106, Magdeburg, GERMANY
3
School of Materials Science & Technology, Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi-221005, INDIA
*Corresponding author: e-mail: vijayks210@gmail.com, Tel. +91-542-6702833, Fax. +91-542-2368428
Abstract
The effective material properties are predicted for composites with different shape and size of inclusions such as cylindrical
fibers, spherical and elliptical particles and cylindrical fibers with hemispherical ends. The analysis is based on a numerical
homogenization technique using finite element method in connection with three-dimensional representative volume element
models. Investigations are carried out to study the influence of various parameters like volume fraction, aspect ratio and particle
distribution. Results are discussed and compared.
Keywords: Finite element analysis; Fibers; Volume fraction; Mechanical properties
1. Introduction
The development and characterization of multifunctional composite materials have been focus by the research community in
recent years with emphasis on the potential applications and benefits for various industries. Thermo-elastic composites constitute
an important class of materials with a wide variety of applications ranging from aerospace structures and electronic printed circuit
boards to recreational and commercial equipment. Some of the most important and useful properties of these composites are
lightweight, high strength and stiffness, excellent frictional properties, good resistance to fatigue and retention of these properties
at high temperatures. The combination of these properties has placed thermo-elastic composites at first rank among materials used
for heat shields, leading edges, re-entry tips, rocket nozzles and brakes for military and advanced civilian aircrafts. The effective
thermo-mechanical properties of the composite depend upon properties of the constituents and the fiber volume fraction.
Many authors have developed techniques to study the elastic behavior of fibrous composites. They take into account the
existence of an intermediate layer between the matrix and the fiber (Agbossou et al, 1997). These thin layers are called interphases
or interfacial zones between fiber and matrix. The effective utilization of the fiber reinforced composites depends on efficient load
transfer from the matrix to fibers through these interphases. These interphases are formed due to, for example, chemical reaction
between the matrix and fiber materials or the use of protective coatings on the fiber during manufacturing. Although small in
thickness, interphases can significantly affect the overall mechanical properties of the fiber-reinforced composites. It is the weakest
link in the load path, and consequently most failures in fiber reinforced composites, such as debonding, fiber pullout, and matrix
cracking, occur in or near this region. Thus, it is crucial to fully understand the mechanism and effects of the interphases on the
overall material properties of fiber reinforced composites. Several homogenization techniques have been developed to obtain a
suitable constitutive model to be inserted at the macroscopic level. Homogenization is a mechanics based modeling scheme that
transforms a body of a heterogeneous material into a constitutively equivalent body of a homogeneous material, where the total
energy stored in both systems is approximately same. The macroscopic properties are determined by a homogenization process,
which yields the effective stresses and strains acting on the effective, homogenized sample of material. The sample of material is
often called as statistically representative volume element (RVE) or unit cell (Berger et al, 2005). The RVE generation of
homogenized composites and its representative is presented in Figs. 1 & 2.
53
Srivastava et al. / International Journal of Engineering, Science and Technology, Vol. 3, No. 1, 2011, pp. 52-68
Fig. 1.
Generation of RVE from a given composite
Fig. 2. Representation of surfaces of RVE

Modeling and prediction of the overall elasticplastic response and local damage mechanisms in heterogeneous materials in
general and particle-reinforced composites in particular, is a very complex problem. Analytical and empirical models provide an
effective way for predicting the properties of composites from the known properties of its constituents, especially for simple
configurations of the phases. Even if analytical and semi analytical models have been developed to homogenize fiber composites,
they are often reduced to specific cases. A finite element analysis was attempted to describe the behavior of these materials,
because there is no restriction on the geometry, size, material properties and number of phases in the composite (Berger et al,
2006). Kari et al, 2007, have studied the influence of randomly distributed spherical and cylindrical particle reinforced composites
using numerical homogenization techniques with periodic boundary conditions, as shown in Fig. 3.
Fig. 3. Steps of numerical homogenization technique

In order to determine the best predictions of the elastic properties of an aligned unidirectional fiber reinforced composite, spatial
distribution of the reinforcing fibers should be considered. The random nature of the transverse packing of the composite had a
significant influence on the transverse elastic constants; and to predict them accurately, this microstructure aspect have to be
considered. Several authors have reported the behavior of the composite materials with multi-scale approach. The overall
properties of the composites that are obtained from the experimental results are well fitted with the investigations made either
through the micro or macro mechanical analysis. The propagation of interfacial cracking or de-cohesion at fiber-matrix interfaces
has been successfully modeled by a number of researchers using the cohesive volumetric finite element methods (Hashin, 2002,
Kari 2006, Kari et al, 2007, Liu et al, 2000, Ramos et al, 2001, Wang 1998). A majority of these studies have been used for unit
cell models, which assume that the material is constituted of periodic repetition of single cells. Due to lack of structural simplicity
54
of continuous fiber composites or laminates, the finite element method (FEM) are often more suitable than analytical modeling for
multiphase materials. Therefore, finite element method is used to determine the effective properties of the multi-shaped fiber
composites.
In this paper, the effective material properties of randomly distributed particle loaded composites were calculated by considering
a representative volume element (RVE) approach. Firstly, considered the existence of a RVE, and consequently adopted the
deterministic, homogeneous continuum theories, which do not clearly account for random microstructures. In generating the RVE
approach, consider; (i) statistical homogeneity representative and (ii) select a sufficiently large size of the RVE relative to the size
of the inclusion to ensure the independence of the boundary conditions. Based on a unit cell model with appropriate periodic
boundary conditions and load cases the finite element method was used to calculate the full set of effective coefficients of the
composite. General numerical homogenization concept was used, which can be extended for the composites with arbitrary
inclusions. The material properties for all analysis are listed in Table-1.
Table 1. Material parameters used for the analysis
Youngs Modulus (GPa)
Poissons Ratio
Material
Fiber/ Particle (SiC)

Matrix (Aluminum Alloy)
450
70
0.17
0.3
2. Constitutive equations and unit cell models

The generalized Hookes law can be formulated to correlate the stiffness matrix (Cij), average stress ij and strain ij; for
homogenized composites as (Berger et al, 2006)
1
22
33
23
31
12
C11
C12
C22
C13
C23
C33
C14
C24
C34
C44
C15
C25
C35
C45
C55
C16
C26
C36
C46
C56
C66
11
22
33
23
31
12
(1)
For the transversely isotropic material, the behavior of the composite is governed by five independent constants and all others
are nullified because the transversely isotropic material is having one axis of revolution in addition three symmetry planes that are
mutually orthogonal. The stiffness matrix remains unchanged due to an arbitrary rotation of the reference system about this axis.
The use of this property leads to:
C11 = C23,
C22 = C11,
C44 = C55
and C66 = (C11-C12)/2
(2)
The relations between the effective elastic modulus and stiffness constants can be written as,
E33 = C33 +
13 =
2(C 13) 2
C11 + C12
C13
C11 + C13
(3)
(4)
(C 23 ) 2 (C11 2C12 ) + C 33 (C12 ) 2

E11 = C11 +
(C 23 ) 2 C 33C11
(5)
(C 23 ) 2 C 33 C12
12 =
(C 23 ) 2 C 33 C11
(6)
G23 = C44
(7)
55
G12 =
and,
K33 =
1
(C11 C12 )
2
1
(C11 + C12 )
2
(8)
(9)
where, E33 = Longitudinal Youngs modulus, E11 = Transverse Youngs modulus,

13 = Longitudinal Poissons ratio, 12 = Transverse Poissons ratio,
G23 = Out-of-plane shear modulus or longitudinal shear modulus,
G12 = In-plane shear modulus or transverse shear modulus,
K33 = Bulk modulus
Finite RVE technique was used to define the material properties with the help of five independent elastic constants by
considering randomly distributed different shaped reinforced with periodic boundary conditions. The appropriate boundary
condition was applied to the unit cell in order to calculate effective coefficient. The effective coefficients such as C13 and C33 can
be evaluated by averaged non-zero stress and strain vector.
2.1. Periodic boundary conditions applied to RVE
Three-dimensional composite materials can be represented as a periodic array of the RVEs. The periodic boundary conditions
can be applied to the RVE models. It is assumed that, when the deformation caused by the load is experienced by each RVE in the
composite, then there is no separation or overlap between the neighboring RVEs after deformation and the average mechanical
properties of the RVE are equal to the average properties of the particular composite. Fig. 4 shows the RVEs containing different
types of inclusions, which are placed suitably within the different positions. When the load is applied to the RVE, it is transferred
to the reinforcing material through the inclusion-matrix interface. This is made possible by joining the node points of the inclusion
with the node points of the matrix material so that transfer of load within the
Fig. 4. Complete meshed RVE models containing different size, shape, volume fraction and distribution of particles within the
matrix material. (a) Cylinder (b) Ellipse (c) Sphere (d) Cylinder and Sphere (e) Cylinder and Ellipse (f) Sphere and Ellipse
56
Fig. 4. Complete meshed RVE models containing different size, shape, volume fraction and distribution of particles within the
matrix material. (g) Cylindrical fibers with hemispherical end and (h) Ellipse inclined at an angle 200 to Z-axis
RVE is effective. In case of fiber inclusions they may be aligned in one direction or the fibers can be distributed randomly within
the RVE itself. Fig. 5 shows both types of fibers arrangement. Due to the manufacturing flexibility, different shaped fibers became
easy to produce. With the careful control of the processing parameters, the spherical fibers can be converted in to elliptical shaped
fibers. Fig. 6 shows the randomly transversally distributed elliptical fibers with their axis rotated by an angle 20 to the Z- axis for
different volume fraction of the fiber inclusion.
Fig.5. Cylindrical fiber inclusions with hemispherical ends at 10% volume fraction (a) transversely randomly distributed short
fibers (TRDSF), (b) randomly distributed short fibers (RDSF)
Fig. 6: Transversally randomly distributed elliptical fibers with the axes rotated by 20 to the Z-axis with the volume fraction of (a)
5%, (b) 10%, (c) 15%, (d) 20% and (e) 25 % (plotted without RVE).
57
2.2. Numerical homogenization of randomly distributed multi-shaped fiber composites

The RVE model is the unit cell containing the particle inclusions in the matrix. The elastic constants of the homogenized
composite are consisted randomly distributed short multi-shaped non-overlapping fibers. The cubic RVE of volume L3 are
obtained through FEA. The modified form of random sequential adsorption algorithm (RSA) is used for a specified distance
between neighboring inclusions. For uniformly distributed fiber orientations, and periodicity of the volume elements, the distance
between axis of the particle n and all the cylinders axes j = 1,. . . , (n -1) have to exceed a minimum value (2 * r + L). Where r is
the radius of the short multi-shaped fiber and L is the minimum distance between two adjacent particles, imposed by the practical
limitations to create an adequate finite element mesh (Kari et al, 2007) If any surface of the particle i intersects any of the cubic
RVE surfaces, this condition has to be checked with the cylindrical, spherical, cylindrical fibers with hemispherical ends and
elliptical inclusions on the opposite surfaces because the microstructure of the composite is periodic [5]. Also the fiber surface
should not be very close to the cubic RVE surface as well as corners of the RVE in order to avoid the presence of distorted finite
elements during meshing (Berger et al 2005).
Fig. 7. Four spherical inclusions located at different geometrical locations within the RVE
Fig. 8. Four cylindrical inclusions located at different geometrical locations within the RVE
58
The RSA algorithm with the combination of the above conditions is used to generate the fiber volumes up to a desired volume
fraction of fibers in a composite with uniformly distributed random fiber orientations. Algorithm was used for other shaped fiber
inclusions such as spherical, elliptical etc. and combination of above cases, as shown in Figs. 7-8. The volume fraction was varied
from 10% to 60% for cylindrical fibers, 10% to 50% for spherical fibers 5% to 25% for elliptical fibers and 3% to 20% for
combination of spherical, elliptical and cylindrical fibers with each fiber occupying the desired volume fraction. Higher volume
fractions and sizes of fibers are suitably adjusted and deposited inside the RVE in descending manner. That is first depositing the
largest aspect ratio fibers and after reaching the jamming limit (i.e., no more fibers with that aspect ratio can be deposited), again
depositing the next largest possible aspect ratio fibers in the RVE. With this approach the volume fraction achieved is varied
keeping in views with the minimum distortion of the finite elements and the adequate mesh. The microscopic structure of the
whole composite is calculated by considering a unit cell or representative volume element (RVE). This captures the major features
of the underlying microstructure. Finite element calculations were performed with the commercial FE package ANSYS. The
matrix and the fibers were meshed with 10 node tetrahedron elements with full integration (Liu et al, 2000)
The ANSYS parametric design language (APDL) was used to calculate the average strains, stresses and effective material
properties. The developed APDL scripts in combination with the ANSYS batch processing, provide a powerful tool for the fast
calculation of homogenized material properties of composites.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Influence of volume fraction when RVE remains constant
Three-dimensional RVE models of fiber inclusions were created containing different shape, size and distribution. For the monodisperse particles, using the described RSA algorithm, the highest volume fraction for the particles were determined. The jamming
factor limits the volume fraction of the fiber inclusions in the RVE. The material properties such as elastic modulus (E), Poissons
ratio (), shear modulus (G) and bulk modulus (K) are considered for the study, which is divided into different categories. The
volume fraction of fiber inclusions was varied and the size of the RVE was kept constant. In the subsequent analysis, the volume
fraction remains constant and size of the RVE is allowed to change (Keri et al, 2007). The RVE model of each volume fraction is
subjected to uni-axial tensile as well as shear deformation along the three axes of co-ordinates. Variation of material properties of
cylindrical fibers with hemispherical ends for TRDSF and RDSF loaded composites with change in volume fractions was studied
along with change in aspect ratio.
0 .3 0
200
(B )
(A)
180
0 .2 5
S p h e rica l
C ylin d rica l
E llip tica l
E33 (GPa)
160
0 .2 0
13
140
120
S p h e ric a l
C ylin d ric a l
E llip tic a l
0 .1 5
0 .1 0
100
80
0 .0
0 .1
0 .2
0 .3
0 .4
0 .0 5
0 .0
0 .5
0 .1
0 .2
0 .4
0 .5
0.6
800
700
0 .3
V o lu m e F rac tio n
V olum e F raction
(D)
(C )
0.5
500
400

300
12 (GPa)
(GPa)
600
S p h e ric a l
C y lin d ric a l
E llip tic a l
200
Spherical
C ylindrical
Elliptical
0.4
0.3
0.2
100
0 .0
0 .1
0 .2
0 .3
V o lu m e F ra c tio n
0 .4
0 .5
0.1
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
Volum e Fraction
Fig. 9. Variation of effective material properties of the composites for cylindrical, spherical and elliptical fiber inclusion with
change of volume fraction (A) longitudinal Youngs modulus, (B) longitudinal Poissons ratios, (C) transverse Youngs modulus,
(D) transverse Poissons ratio
59
60
350
(E)
55
(F)
300
50
G12 (GPa)
G23 (GPa)
250
45
200
40
35
30
S pherical
C ylindrical
E lliptical
150
Spherical
Cylindrical
Elliptical
100
50
25
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.0
0.5
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
Volum e Fraction
Volume Fraction
450
(G)
400
350
K33 (GPa)
300
250
Spherical
Cylindrical
Elliptical
200
150
100
50
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
Volume Fraction
Fig. 9. Variation of effective material properties of the composites for cylindrical, spherical and elliptical fiber inclusion with
change of volume fraction (E) longitudinal shear modulus, (F) transverse shear modulus, (G) bulk modulus
140
C ylin d rica l F ibe r w ith

H e m is p h e rica l E n d
88
86
120
84
C ylindrical F iber w ith

H em ispherical end
0.40
0.38
82
80
78
76
110
0.36
12
E11 (GPa)
E33 (GPa)
0.42
C ylindrical F iber w ith

H em ispherical end
130
100
0.34
90
0.32
80
74
(A)
(B)
70
72
0.0 1
0 .02
0.0 3
0.0 4
0.01
V olu m e fraction (%)

3 2 .0
0.02
0.03
0.04
0.05
V olum e fraction (%)
(C)
0.01
0.02
0.03
0.04
0.05
Volum e fraction (%)
100
C ylin d ric a l F ib e r w ith

H e m is p h e ric a l e n d
C ylin d r ic a l F ib e r w ith
H e m is p h e ric a l e n d
95
90
K33 (GPa)
3 1 .6
G23 (GPa)
0.30
0.28
0 .05
3 1 .2
3 0 .8
85
80
75
70
(D )
3 0 .4
0 .0 1
0 .0 2
0 .0 3
0 .0 4
V o lu m e fra c tio n (% )
0 .0 5
(F )
65
0 .0 1
0 .0 2
0 .0 3
0 .0 4
0 .0 5
V o lu m e fra c tio n (% )
Fig. 10. Variation of effective material properties of cylindrical fiber inclusion with hemispherical ends reinforced composites with
change of volume fraction: (A) longitudinal Youngs modulus, (B) transverse Youngs modulus, (C) transverse Poissons ratio,
(D) longitudinal shear modulus, (E) transverse shear modulus, (F) bulk modulus
Different RVE models with randomly distributed short fibers are considered for each volume fraction, and subjected to uni-axial
tensile as well as shear deformation along the three axes of co-ordinates. The ensemble average of the effective material properties
at each volume fraction is considered as effective material properties of the total composite at that particular volume fraction.
60
84
Cylindrical & Spherical

Cylindrical & Elliptical
Spherical & Elliptical
82
0.300
(A)
(B)
0.295
0.290
78
0.285
13
E33 (GPa)
80
76
0.280
74
Cylindrical & Spherical

Cylindrical & Elliptical
Spherical & Elliptical
72
0.275
70
0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.10 0.12 0.14 0.16
0.270
0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.10 0.12 0.14 0.16
Volume Fraction
Volume Fraction
84
Cylindrical and Spherical

Cylindrical and Elliptical
Spherical and Elliptical
(D)
0.295
0.290
78
12
E11 (GPa)
81
0.300
(C)
75
0.285
0.280

0.275
72
0.02
0.04
0.06
0.08
0.10
0.12
0.14
0.270
0.02
0.16
0.04
0.06
0.08
0.10
0.12
0.14
0.16
Volume Fraction
Volume Fraction
76
33
74
(F)
72
31
K
(GPa)
33
G12 (GPa)
32

(F)

30
29
70
68
28
66
27
0.02
0.04
0.06
0.08
0.10
0.12
0.14
0.16
0.02
0.04
0.06
Volume Fraction
0.08
0.10
0.12
0.14
0.16
Volume Fraction
Fig. 11. Variation of effective material properties of the composites for cylindrical & spherical, cylindrical & elliptical and
spherical & elliptical fiber inclusion(s) with change of volume fraction (A) longitudinal Youngs modulus, (B) longitudinal
Poissons ratios, (C) transverse Youngs modulus, (D) transverse Poissons ratio, (E) transverse shear modulus, (F) bulk modulus
TRDSF (Elliptical Inclusion Rotated 20 to Z Axis)

TRDSF (Cylindrical Fibers with Hemispherical ends)
RDSF (Cylindrical Fibers with Hemispherical ends)
110
110
105
100
100
95
95
E33 (GPa)
E11 (GPa)
105
90
TRDSF
RDSF
0
Elliptical Fiber Inclusion Rotated 20 to Z Axis
90
85
85
80
80
(A)
75
5
10
15
% Volume Fraction
20
25
75
(B)
70
5
10
15
20
25
% Volume Fraction
Fig. 12. Variation of effective material properties of the composites for transversely randomly distributed elliptical inclusion
rotated at 200 to the Z-axis, transversely randomly distributed cylindrical fibers with hemispherical ends and randomly distributed
cylindrical fibers with hemispherical ends and comparison with different analytical results (A) transverse Youngs modulus, (B)
longitudinal Youngs modulus
61
45
95
TRDSF
RDSF
0
Elliptical Inclusion Rotated 20 to Z Axis
TRDSF
RDSF
0
Elliptical Inclusion Rotated 20 to Z Axis
90
40
K33 (GPa)
G12 (GPa)
85
35
80
75
70
30
(C)
5
10
15
% Volume Fraction
20
25
(D)
65
5
10
15
20
25
% Volume Fraction
Fig. 12. Variation of effective material properties of the composites for transversely randomly distributed elliptical inclusion
rotated at 200 to the Z-axis, transversely randomly distributed cylindrical fibers with hemispherical ends and randomly distributed
cylindrical fibers with hemispherical ends and comparison with different analytical results (C) transverse shear modulus,
(D) bulk modulus
Figures (9-12) show the variation of effective material properties such as Youngs modulus, Poissons ratio, shear modulus, and
bulk modulus respectively, with the change in volume fraction of fiber inclusion. Fig. 9(A) shows the variation of modulus in the
fiber direction, E33, with the variation of the volume fraction of fiber inclusion. This shows the increase of E33 with increase of
volume fraction for single particle inclusion (i.e. cylindrical, spherical, elliptical fibers). It is observed that the highest numerical
value of the result corresponds to the larger volume fraction. This may be due to the fact that when the resin content of fiber is
more, then flaws appeared due to micro cracks and voids. This may be present in the matrix that acts as the point of stress
concentration and fractured at lower load (Keri et al, 2007). With the increase of volume fraction of fiber content the above defects
minimizes and the proper interfacial bonding is achieved. After certain limit of the quantity of the resin content, its difficult to
simulate the results due to the jamming effect. In all the analyses the RVE models containing the cylindrical fiber inclusion give
maximum value. The similar trend is also observed for E11, G12, G33 and K33 in all models. The results for the spherical and
elliptical inclusions are overlapped, due to comparable surface geometry. The values of the Poissons ratio are decreased with the
increasing of volume fraction of the fiber inclusion. The uneven distribution of Poissons ratio for 12 and 13 are not clear.
Also, rounded sphere-cylinders with the combination of cylindrical body and two hemispheric caps at the both ends removing
the singularities are considered, as shown in Fig. 10. It is clear that fibers do not have rounded caps but it can be considered as a
minor change in shape compared to plane cylindrical approach (Ramos et al, 2001). The material properties are calculated
corresponding to the different volume fraction of fiber content. The Youngs modulus, shear modulus and bulk modulus is found
to be increases with the increase of volume fraction. But the values are found to be lower than the earlier cases for cylindrical
inclusion alone. This might be due to the fact of lower interfacial bonding in the smooth surfaces. So when load is applied to this
type material, it offers less resistance. Finally, consider the pair inclusions of cylindrical- spherical, spherical-elliptical, ellipticalcylindrical and pairs of particle inside the RVE, as shown in Fig. 11. Due to jamming effect, the volume fraction of fiber inclusion
varies in different models. The cylindrical-spherical combination gives the better results than the other two combinations. Fig. 12
shows the variation of effective materials properties with the ratio of major to minor axis (ellipse rotated through 20O along Z-axis
with 5% volume fraction) and rotation of major axis along Z-direction. Material properties versus volume fraction of TRDSF
elliptical inclusion (a/b = 2, angle of rotation = 200 to Z-axis) is represented along with the TRDSF and RDSF cylindrical fibers
with the hemispherical end.
3.2. Influence of size of RVE on the effective material properties & volume fraction of 30 %
The heterogeneous materials are analyzed through the RVE technique having volume, which is sufficiently large enough for the
statistical representation of composites. It is considered to be capable of sampling of all micro-structural heterogeneity that occurs
in the composite (Wang, 1998). Such type of RVE is capable of reproducing the bulk properties of the composites. There is a
minimum size for the RVE (with short fibers), which is required to give appropriate effective material properties of a macroscopic
composite structure. If the size of the RVE considered is less than the minimum size required, it may lead to a wrong prediction of
effective material properties. Numerical homogenization techniques can help in determining the critical size of the RVE. In order
to determine the minimum size of RVE, identical short fiber particles were considered and by changing the size of the cubic RVE,
the effective material properties were obtained for 30% volume fraction. Figs. 13 and 14 show the variation of effective material
properties in response to the change in size of the RVE. With identical aspect ratio of fibers (length of fiber/diameter of fiber)
using this algorithm, it is possible to generate up to 30% volume fractions RVE models. But, it is not possible to generate higher
volume fraction RVE models because of the jamming limit. Studies are presented to determine the effect of the size of RVE on the
effective material properties of these composites.
62
For this purpose, we considered the cubic length of the RVE that varies from 0.4 to 2 unit length. The single inclusion like
cylindrical, spherical and elliptical is considered. The cylindrical inclusion RVE model gives the best results in comparison to the
other cases. In the same analysis also assumed that the combine cases of elliptical-cylindrical, cylindrical-spherical and sphericalelliptical fiber inclusion. The spherical-cylindrical combination gives the best result in comparison to the other two varieties as
mentioned earlier.
160
130
120
140
E33(GPa)
E11(GPa)
110
120
Cylindrical Inclusions
Spherical Inclusions
Elliptical Inclusions
100
(A)
80
60
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
2.0
sph erica l inclusio ns

cylindrical inclu sio ns
e lliptical inclu sions
100
90
(B)
80
70
2.2
0.2
0.4
0.6
Cubic RVE length(mm)
0.8
1.0
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
2.0
2.2
Cubic RVE length(mm )
0.250
0.245
0 .2 6
0.240
s p h e ric a l in c lu s io n s
c ylin d ric a l in c lu sio n s
e llip tic a l in c lu s io n s
12
13
0 .2 5
0.235
spherical inclusions
cylindrical inclusions
elliptical inclusions
0.230
0.225
0.220
0.2
0 .2 4
(C)
(D )
0 .2 3
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
2.0
0 .2
2.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1 .0
1.2
1 .4
1.6
1.8
2 .0
2.2
C u b ic R V E len g th (m m )
45
60
55
40
35
G12(GPa)
G23(GPa)
50
30
(E)
45
s p h e ric a l in c lu s io n s
c ylin d rica l in c lu sio n s
e llip tic a l in c lu s io n s
40
35
(F )
30
25
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
2.0
25
0.2
2.2
0 .4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
1.4
1 .6
1.8
2.0
2 .2
C u b ic R V E le n g th (m m )
110
100
K33(GPa)
90
80
70
(G)
60
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
2.0
2.2
Fig. 13. Variation of effective material properties of the composites for cylindrical, spherical and elliptical fiber inclusion(s) with
change in cubic RVE length (A) Transverse Youngs modulus, (B) longitudinal Youngs modulus, (C) longitudinal Poissons
ratios, (D) transverse Poissons ratio, (E) longitudinal shear modulus, (F) transverse shear modulus, (G) bulk modulus
63
80
78
79
78
77
76
76
E (GPa)
75
75
s p h e ric a l & c y lin d ric a l in c lu s io n s

e llip tic a l & c y lin d ric a l in c lu s io n s
s p h e ric a l & e llip tic a l in c lu s io n s
11
E33(GPa)
77
sp h e rica l & cy lin d ric a l in c lu s io n s

e llip tica l & cylin d ric a l in c lu s io n s
sp h e rica l & e llip tica l in c lu s io n s
74
73
(A)
74
73
(B )
72
72
71
0.2
0.4
0.6
0 .8
1.0
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
2.0
2.2
0 .2
0 .4
0 .6
0 .8
1 .0
1 .2
1 .4
1 .6
1 .8
2 .0
2 .2
0.35
0.290
0.34
0.288
0.33
0.284
0.32
spherical & cylindrical inclusions
elliptical & cylindrical inclusions
spherical & elliptical inclusions
12
13
0.286

0.31
0.30
(D)
0.282
0.29
(C)
0.280
0.28
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0 2.2
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0 2.2
29.5
30.5
29.0
30.0
29.5
G12(GPa)
G23(GPa)
28.5
28.0
27.5
(E)
27.0
29.0

28.5
(F)
28.0
27.5
0.2
26.5
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0 2.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
2.0
2.2
72
71
K33(GPa)
70
69
68
(G)
67
66
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
2.0
2.2
Fig. 14. Variation of effective material properties of the composites for cylindrical- spherical, cylindrical - elliptical and spherical
& elliptical fiber inclusion(s) with change in cubic RVE length (A) longitudinal Youngs modulus, (B) transverse Youngs
modulus, (C) longitudinal poissons ratios, (D) transverse poissons ratio, (E) longitudinal shear modulus, (F) transverse shear
modulus, (G) bulk modulus
3.3. Influence of the position of fiber inclusions and number of inclusions in RVE- volume fraction 2.5%
The influence of position of fiber inclusion is an important aspect, which is studied along with the distribution of fibers at
different locations within the RVE. First, considered a spherical fiber inclusion, as shown in Fig.7 and change its position by
varying its centre coordinates within the RVE. The coordinate points for the geometrical centre of the sphere(s) are shown in the
Table-2. In this analysis the volume fraction of fiber remains constant where as only the number of sphere and its position changes.
64
Table 2. Coordinate points of the spherical inclusion(s) for different location points within the RVE
4 spheres
Coordinates
Coordinates
Coordinates
Coordinates
Coordinates
for the
for the
for the
for the
for the
position 1
position 2
position 3
position 4
position 5
X1
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
Y1
1
1.3
1.3
1.3
1.3
Z1
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
X2
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
Y2
1
1
1.3
1.3
0.8
Z2
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
X3
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
Y3
1
1
1
0.8
1.3
Z3
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
X4
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
Y4
1
1
0.8
0.8
0.8
Z4
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
Table 3. Coordinate points of the cylindrical inclusion(s) for different location points within the RVE
4 cylinders
Coordinates for
Coordinates
Coordinates
Coordinates
Coordinates
the position 1
for the
for the
for the
for the
position 2
position 3
position 4
position 5
X1
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
Y1
1
1.3
1.3
1.3
1.3
Z1
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
X2
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
Y2
1
1
1.3
1.3
0.8
Z2
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
X3
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
Y3
1
1
1
0.8
1.3
Z3
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
X4
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
Y4
1
1
0.8
0.8
0.8
Z4
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
The positions of these inclusions were changed within the RVE, as given in Table-3 and the comparison of effective material
properties are represented in Figs. 15 and 16. The result shows that the single spherical/cylindrical fiber inclusion gives better
material properties.
The spherical inclusion suffers from the drawback that a large volume fraction has to be used to achieve the strength as
compared to elliptical and multi shaped inclusion composites. The composites with cylindrical inclusions can be used where very
high strength material is required. Also, it was found that the change of position as well as numbers does not alter the properties of
the RVE.
73.0
73.0
One Sphere
Two Spheres
Four Spheres
One Sphere
Two Spheres
Four Spheres
72.5
E11 (GPa)
E33 (GPa)
72.5
72.0
72.0
71.5
71.5
(B)
(A)
71.0
71.0
1
Position of Sphere(s)
Fig. 15. Variation of effective material properties of the composites for one sphere, two spheres and four spheres inclusion(s) with
change in absolute position at different locations (A) longitudinal Youngs modulus, (B) transverse Youngs modulus
65
31.2
31.1
31.1
30.9
G12 (GPa)
30.9
G23 (GPa)
One Sphere
Two Spheres
Four Spheres
31.0
One Sphere
Two Spheres
Four Spheres
31.0
30.8
30.7
30.8
30.7
30.6
(C)
(D)
30.6
30.5
30.4
1
30.5
47.4
One Sphere
Two Spheres
Four Spheres
K33 (GPa)
47.2
47.0
46.8
46.6
(E)
46.4
1
Fig. 15. Variation of effective material properties of the composites for one sphere, two spheres and four spheres inclusion(s) with
change in absolute position at different locations (C) longitudinal shear modulus, (D) transverse shear modulus, (E) bulk modulus
78
77
73.0
One Cylinder
Two Cylinders
Four Cylinders
E11 (GPa)
72.5
E33 (GPa)
One Cylinder
Two Cylinders
Four Cylinders
76
72.0
(A)
75
(B)
74
73
72
71.5
One Cylinder
Two Cylinders
Four Cylinders
One Cylinder
Two Cylinders
Four Cylinders
(C)
Position of Cylinder(s)
(D)
Position
69.4
69.2
One Cylinder
Two Cylinders
Four Cylinders
69.0
68.8
68.6
(E)
68.4
Fig. 16. Variation of effective material properties of the composites for one cylinder, two cylinders and four cylinders inclusion(s)
with change in absolute position at different locations (A) longitudinal Youngs modulus, (B) transverse Youngs modulus, (C)
longitudinal shear modulus, (D) transverse shear modulus, (E) bulk modulus
66
3.4. Influence of volume fraction on the cylindrical fiber with hemispherical ends
The effect of the material properties with the change of the volume fraction of the randomly distributed (RDCFH), transversely
randomly distributed cylindrical fibers with the hemispherical ends (TRDCFH) and transversely randomly distributed elliptical
fiber rotated at an angle 200 to the Z-axis (TRDSF/20z0) was considered for the analysis. It was observed that, the numerical value
of the transverse Youngs modulus (E11) at 5% volume fraction of fiber inclusion is almost the same for the TRDSF and RDSF
arrangement of cylindrical fibers with hemispherical ends but there is an improvement of 3% in the case of elliptical fiber
inclusion (Liu et al 2000). Corresponding to 10, 15 and 20% volume fraction, the randomly distributed cylindrical fibers with
hemispherical ends shows 4.5, 4.1 and 1.94 % improvements over the transversely randomly distributed similar kind of fibers. At
higher volume fraction i.e. 25%, the nature of the TRDSF for the hemispherical ended cylindrical fiber get reversed and an
improvement of 4.7 % is observed. The TRDSF/20z0 shows an improvement of 4, 13, 17.7, 20.5 and 17.7 % on TRDCFH for 5,
10, 15, 20 and 25% volume fraction. There is an increase in trend is observed for E33 with the variation of volume fraction for
RDCFH, TRDCFH and TRDSF/20z0. At lower volume fraction, say at 5% and 10%, there is no considerable amount of
improvements in the properties is observed for E33 but at higher volume fraction, say at 25%, the TRDSF/20z0 shows 9% and
16.3% improvement over RDCFH and TRDCFH. Similar trend is observed for G12 where the TRDSF/20z0 shows superior
properties than RDCFH and TRDCFH over the increase in the volume fraction of the fiber inclusion. For K33, the curve for the
RDCFH and TRDCFH almost overlap with each other but there is a linear increase in the properties is observed for TRDSF/20z0.
TRDSF/20z0 produces 5.5% improvement for 5% volume fraction and 22.5% improvements at 25% volume fraction over RDCFH
and TRDCFH.
3.5. Variation of material properties
The effect of aspect ratio is an important consideration for the analysis of composite performance. If changes the aspect ratio
from the numerical value 1 to 6. The property like E33, E11 and G12 remains almost linear for the different values of aspect ratios
for TRDCFH, as can be identified from Fig. 17. The curves for the RDCFH show some irregular deviation and the cause is
unknown at this moment. Also, from the earlier analysis it was observed that TRDSF/20z0 shows better properties over the range of
the volume fraction of the fiber inclusion.
88
(A)
86
84
(B)
75
82
E11 (GPa)
E33 (GPa)
80
TRDSF
RDSF
80
TRDCFS
RDCFS
70
65
78
60
76
55
74
1
34
36
(C)
TRDSF
RDSF
33
L/D
L/D
(D)
32
G23 in GPa
G12 in GPa
34
31
TRDSF
RDSF
32
30
30
29
28
1
L/D
L/D
Fig. 17. Variation of effective material properties of the composites for cylindrical fiber with hemi spherical end inclusion(s) with
the variation of aspect ratio and comparison with different analytical results (A) longitudinal Youngs modulus, (B) transverse
Youngs modulus, (C) transverse shear modulus, (D) longitudinal shear modulus
67
73
(E)
72
K33 in GPa
71
TRDSF
RDSF
70
69
68
L/D
Fig. 17. Variation of effective material properties of the composites for cylindrical fiber with hemi spherical end inclusion(s) with
the variation of aspect ratio and comparison with different analytical results (E) bulk modulus
Fig. 18(A) shows that, the material properties do not change with the changes of aspect ratio for TRDSF/20z0. The effect of the
angular positioning of the elliptical fiber in the RVE is an important aspect and need complete analysis. For this purpose, the
volume fraction of the elliptical fiber inclusion is kept constant i.e. 5% and the ratio of the major axis to the minor axis is 2, as can
be seen from Fig. 18 (B). It was found that, the various properties such as E33, E11, K13, G13 and G12 are unaffected by the different
angular positions of elliptical fiber i.e. 00 to 250 with 50 increments. There is an unexpected drop is observed for all the above
properties at the 100 angular position.
80
70
70
Material Properties in GPa
(A)
E 33
60
E 11
K 13
G 23
50
G 12
40
V o lu m e F ra ction o f E llip tica l Inclu sion : 5 %

R o ta tio n o f M a jo r A xis T hro u g h Z -A x e s= 20
30
1.0
1 .2
1 .4
1 .6
1 .8
2 .0
E 33
E 11
60
(B )
K 13
G 13
50
G 12
40
V olu m e F rac tion o f E lliptic al In clusions : 5%

M ajor ax is/M ino r ax is = 2
30
20
0
R a tio o f M ajo r A x is to M in o r A xis
10
15
20
25
Material Properties in GPa
R otation of M ajor a xis in Z D ire ctio n (D rgree)
110
E 33
100
E 11
K 13
90
G 12
80
(C )
70
60
R a tio of M ajor a x is to M ino r a x is = 2 ,

0
E llip s e R o tated at a n a ng le of 2 0 to th e Z a x is
50
40
30
5
10
15
20
25
V o lu m e F ra c tio n in %
Fig. 18. Variation of effective material properties of the composites for the elliptical fiber inclusion (A) ratio of major axis to
minor axis of the ellipse = 2 and rotated at an angle 200 to the Z-axis with the variation of the ratio of major axis to minor axis, (B)
at constant volume fraction of 5% with the ratio of the major axis to the minor axis =2 with the variation of the angle of rotation of
the major axis along the Z direction, (C) at a particular angular position 200 to the Z axis and constant value of the ratio of major
axis to minor axis =2 with the variation of the volume fraction.
The elliptical fiber with the ratio of Major axis to the Minor axis 2, which is placed in the RVE at a constant angular position 200
to the Z-axis is consider for the analysis, as shown in Fig. 18(C). The volume fraction of the fiber inclusion was varied from 5% to
25% with increments of 5%. It was found that the properties like E33, E11, K12 and G12 gradually increases with the increase of the
volume fraction of the fiber inclusion (Berger et al, 2006). The increments in the properties for E33, E11, K12 and G12 from 5% to
25% volume fraction are 30.65, 30.67, 22.45 and 32% respectively.
68
4. Conclusions
Numerical homogenization tools have been developed for the evaluation of the effective material properties of the short fiber
composites. The results showed that the effective material properties depend mainly on the volume fraction. Also, Youngs
modulus, shear modulus and bulk modulus properties can be improved with the increase of fiber volume fraction. Volume fraction
for cylindrical, spherical and elliptical fiber inclusions can not be increased more than 50%, where as in the combined cases, it
should be in between 3 to 15% to avoid the jamming effect. This statement is valid for linear elastic case for the evaluation of
effective material properties only.
Acknowledgement
The authors will like to acknowledge DST, New Delhi, India and DAAD, Germany for their financial support.
References
Agbossou A., Pastor J. 1997. Thermal Stresses and Thermal Expansion Coefficients of n-Layered Fiber-Reinforced Composites,
Composite Science & Technology, Vol57, pp. 249-260.
Berger H., Kari S., Gabbert U., Rodriguez-Ramos R., Guinovart-Diaz R., Bravo-Castillero J. 2005. An analytical and numerical
approach for calculating effective material coefficients of piezoelectric fiber composites, International Journal of Solid
Structure, Vol. 2122, pp 56925714.
Berger H., Kari S., Gabbert U., Ramos Rodriguez R., Guinovart-Diaz R., Otero J.A., Bravo- Castillero J. 2006. Unit cell models of
piezoelectric fiber composites for numerical and analytical calculation of effective properties, Smart Material Structure, Vol.
15, pp. 451458.
Hashin Z. 2002. Thin interphase/imperfect interface in elasticity with application to coated fiber composites, Journal of Mech Phys
Solids, Vol. 50, pp. 2509-2537.
Kari S., Berger H., Rodriguez-Ramos R., Gabbert U. 2007. Computational evaluation of effective material properties of
composites reinforced by randomly distributed spherical particles, Computer Structures, Vol. 77, pp. 223231.
Kari S. 2006. Micro-mechanical Modeling and numerical homogenization of fiber and particle reinforced composites, Reihe 18,
Mechanik, Nr 309, Ph.D. thesis, VDI Verlag GmbH, Germany.
Kari S., Berger H., Gabbert U. 2007. Numerical evaluation of effective material properties of randomly distributed short
cylindrical fiber composites, Computational Material Science, Vol. 39, pp. 198204.
Liu Y..J., Xu N., Luo J.F. 2000. Modeling of interphases in fiber-reinforced composites under transverse loading using the
boundary element method, J Appl Mech, Vol. 67, pp. 41-49.
Ramos R.R., Sabina F.J., Diaz R.G., Castillero J.B. 2001. Closed- form expressions for the effective coefficients of fiberreinforced composite with transversely isotropic constituents. I: Elastic and square symmetry, Mech Mater, Vol. 33, pp. 223235.
Wang J.S. 1998. Random sequential adsorption, series expansion and Monte Carlo simulation, Physica-A, Vol. 254, pp. 179-184.
Biographical notes
Dr. V.K. Srivastava received M.Tech and Ph.D. degree from Institute of Technology, BHU, Varanasi in 1979 and 1987, respectively. He is a Professor in the
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Institute of Technology, BHU, Varanasi, India. He is Fellow of IE, India. His research interests include composite
materials, ceramic composites. He has published more than 130 papers in referred international journals and conferences. He is editorial member of various
International journals.
Dr. Ulrich Gabbert is a senior Professor and Head of Institute of Mechanics, Otto-von-Guericke University of Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany.
Dr. H. Berger is a Professor Assistant, Institute of Mechanics, Otto-von-Guericke University of Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany.
Miss Shraddha Singh is Ph.D. student, School of Materials Science & Technology, Institute of Technology, BHU, Varanasi, India.
Received February 2011

Accepted February 2011
Final acceptance in revised form March 2011

Ijest NG Vol3 No1 pp52 68h

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Ijest NG Vol3 No1 pp52 68h

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

International Journal of Engineering, Science And Technology

Vol. 3, No. 1, 2011, pp. 52-68

Analysis of particles loaded fiber composites for the evaluation of effective

Generation of RVE from a given composite

Fig. 2. Representation of surfaces of RVE

Fig. 3. Steps of numerical homogenization technique

Fiber/ Particle (SiC)

2. Constitutive equations and unit cell models

and C66 = (C11-C12)/2

(C 23 ) 2 (C11 2C12 ) + C 33 (C12 ) 2

where, E33 = Longitudinal Youngs modulus, E11 = Transverse Youngs modulus,

2.2. Numerical homogenization of randomly distributed multi-shaped fiber composites

C ylin d rica l F ibe r w ith

C ylindrical F iber w ith

C ylindrical F iber w ith

V olu m e fraction (%)

V olum e fraction (%)

Volum e fraction (%)

C ylin d ric a l F ib e r w ith

Cylindrical & Spherical

Cylindrical & Spherical

Cylindrical and Spherical

Cylindrical and Spherical

Cylindrical and Spherical

Cylindrical and Spherical

TRDSF (Elliptical Inclusion Rotated 20 to Z Axis)

sph erica l inclusio ns

Cubic RVE length(mm)

Cubic RVE length(mm )

Cubic RVE length(mm)

Cubic RVE length(mm)

Cubic RVE length(mm)

s p h e ric a l & c y lin d ric a l in c lu s io n s

sp h e rica l & cy lin d ric a l in c lu s io n s

spherical & cylindrical inclusions

Cubic RVE length(mm)

Cubic RVE length(mm)

spherical & cylindrical inclusions

Cubic RVE length(mm)

Cubic RVE length(mm)

Cubic RVE length(mm)

Material Properties in GPa

V o lu m e F ra ction o f E llip tica l Inclu sion : 5 %

V olu m e F rac tion o f E lliptic al In clusions : 5%

R a tio o f M ajo r A x is to M in o r A xis

Material Properties in GPa

R otation of M ajor a xis in Z D ire ctio n (D rgree)

R a tio of M ajor a x is to M ino r a x is = 2 ,

Received February 2011

You might also like