Micromechanical material models for polymer composites through advanced numerical simulation techniques

Abstract

The paper deals with the determination of macroscopic material properties of polymer composites by meso‐mechanical numerical modeling. Focus is laid on the methodology how to build up appropriate representative volume elements (RVE) to describe the microstructure of spherical‐particles and fibers reinforced composites and how to apply appropriate 3D boundary conditions. The work includes the comparison of the effective material parameters calculated through numerical homogenization of our FE‐models with existing analytical formulations as well as with experimental data. (© 2009 Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)