Generalized interfacial energy and size effects in composites

Georges Chatzigeorgiou (1) , Fodil Meraghni (1) , Ali Javili (2)

1 LEM3 - Laboratoire d'Etude des Microstructures et de Mécanique des Matériaux
2 Bilkent University [Ankara]

The objective of this contribution is to explain the size effect in composites due to the interfacial energy between the constituents of the underlying microstructure. The generalized interface energy accounts for both jumps of the deformation as well as the stress across the interface. The cohesive zone and elastic interface are only two limit cases of the general interface model. A closed form analytical solution is derived to compute the effective interface-enhanced material response. Our novel analytical solution is in excellent agreement with the numerical results obtained from the finite element method for a broad variety of parameters and dimensions. A remarkable observation is that the notion of size effect is theoretically bounded verified by numerical examples. Thus, the gain or loss via reducing the dimensions of the microstructure is limited to certain ultimate values, immediately relevant for designing nano-composites.

Mots clés: General interface; Ultimate size effect; Nano-composites; Capillary effect; CCA

Domaines: Matériaux et structures en mécanique [physics.class-ph]; Mécanique des matériaux [physics.class-ph]; Mécanique des solides [physics.class-ph]

Georges Chatzigeorgiou, Fodil Meraghni, Ali Javili. Generalized interfacial energy and size effects in composites. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 2017, 106, pp.257-282. ⟨10.1016/j.jmps.2017.06.002⟩. ⟨hal-01556870⟩