A multiscale approach and microstructure design of the elastic composite behavior reinforced with natural particles

Ahmed El Moumen (1) , Abdellatif Imad (1) , Toufik Kanit (1) , E. Hilali , H. El Minor

1 LML - Laboratoire de Mécanique de Lille - FRE 3723

The morphology characterization and computational methods favored numerical simulation and design of microstructures. Indeed, the multiscale approaches enable us to determine the elastic properties of materials. In this paper, the objective is to develop a three-dimensional microstructure of biocomposites containing natural particles. The biocomposite is made of polypropylene matrix mixed with natural fillers. The image is obtained using the microscope. We describe a serial sectioning process and finite element simulations to reproduce, visualize and model these microstructures. Statistical methods are introduced to study the representativity of specimen. The statistical representative volume element is introduced to determine the minimum volume which provides the representativeness. This statistical volume is compared with experimental and numerical ones.

Mots clés: A. Particle-reinforcement; A. Polymer-matrix composites; C. Finite element analysis; Image processing

Ahmed El Moumen, Abdellatif Imad, Toufik Kanit, E. Hilali, H. El Minor. A multiscale approach and microstructure design of the elastic composite behavior reinforced with natural particles. Composites Part B: Engineering, 2014, 66, pp.247-254. ⟨10.1016/j.compositesb.2014.05.008⟩. ⟨hal-01009568⟩