Nonlinear behavior of a soft matrix highly filled with randomly spherical particle or voids

When highly reinforced a soft matrix, like an elastomer matrix, undergoes incredibly localized high strain where particles nearly touch. Therefore, it requires extensive remeshing efforts in an order to estimate numerically the equivalent homogeneous behavior of such a composite. We did that, using Abaqus *MAP SOLUTION option. This allowed to provide original numerical stress-strain responses of a nonlinear hyperelastic matrix highly filled with hard particles, according to the volume fraction of particles. These responses have then be used to propose an analytical approximation, useful for anyone dealing with such materials. We have also considered the case of the hyperelastic matrix filled with spherical voids.

This work was led by PostDoc student Haoming Luo. It details the process of remeshing with its limit and advantages.
[1] H. Luo, Z. Hooshmand, K. Danas, J. Diani, 2023. Numerical estimation via remeshing and analytical modeling of nonlinear elastic composites comprising a large volume fraction of randomly distributed particles and voids. European Journal of Mechanics A/Solids, 101, 105076. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euromechsol.2023.105076