An excursion into representative volume elements and unit cells

Li, Shuguang and Sitnikova, Elena (2017) An excursion into representative volume elements and unit cells. In, Comprehensive Composite Materials II. Elsevier, pp. 451-489. (doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-803581-8.10352-2).

Record type: Book Section

Abstract

The objective of this chapter is to provide a comprehensive and systematic account on the subject of representative volume elements (RVEs) and unit cells (UCs). To construct an RVE or UC, intuition has been often perceived sufficient to facilitate the analysis, but down to the details, approaches taken turn out to be rather mythological. It will be demonstrated in this chapter that there is absolutely no room for any myth on the subject if the basic concepts of mathematics and mechanics, namely, symmetry and free body diagrams, have been applied correctly and consistently. Only then, effective and reliable means of material characterization based on the use of RVEs and UCs can be established, in particular, for composites where micro/meso-structures often dictate their behaviors. The logic employed defines the boundary of applicability of the methodology.

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Published date: 1 January 2017

Keywords: 3D weaves, Boundary conditions, Key degrees of freedom, Material characterization, Micro/meso scales, Representative volume element (RVE), Symmetry, Transverse isotropy, Unidirectionally fiber reinforced composites (UD), Unit cell (UC), “Sanity checks”