Multiscale thermoelastic analysis of random heterogeneous materials Part I: Microstructure characterization and homogenization of material properties

This study is concerned with the modeling of heterogeneous materials with random microstructure and understanding their thermomechanical properties. Realistic random microstructures are generated for computational analyses using random morphology description functions (RMDFs). The simulated microstructures closely resemble actual micrographs of random heterogeneous materials. It is possible to simulate a wide range of random microstructures using this method, including: (a) particles of irregular shapes and sizes embedded in a matrix phase and (b) interpenetrating phase composite microstructures in which each material phase forms an interconnected network. In this first part of the work, the simulated RMDF microstructures are characterized using statistical techniques and their homogenized material properties computed using the asymptotic expansion homogenization (AEH) method. The material properties thus obtained are compared with analytical homogenization schemes and experimental data for several different material combinations and constituent volume fractions. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.