New integral formulation and self-consistent modeling of elastic-viscoplastic heterogeneous materials

Predicting the overall behavior of heterogeneous materials, from their local properties at the scale of heterogeneities, represents a critical step in the design and modeling of new materials. Within this framework, an internal variables approach for scale transition problem in elastic-viscoplastic case is introduced. The proposed micromechanical model is based on establishing a new system of field equations from which two Navier's equations are obtained. Combining these equations leads to a single integral equation which contains, on the one hand, modified Green operators associated with elastic and viscoplastic reference homogeneous media, and secondly, elastic and viscoplastic fluctuations. This new integral equation is thus adapted to self-consistent scale transition methods. By using the self-consistent approximation we obtain the concentration law and the overall elastic-viscoplastic behavior of the material. The model is first applied to the case of two-phase materials with isotropic, linear and compressible viscoelastic properties. Results for elastic-viscoplastic two-phase materials are also presented and compared with exact results and variational methods. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.