Implementation of elastic-plastic multi-scale analysis and application in particle reinforced composites

Based on asymptotic expansion homogenization theory, which satisfies the assumptions of periodicity and separation of two length scales, the effective elastic properties were identified fast for particle reinforced composites and its macro-micro stress field information were also conveniently obtained by the second-development of ABAQUS. In order to approximate the actual composite structure, the randomly distributed spherical particles considering different sizes and contents were adopted in micro-scale model. The effective elastic parameters were extracted from the micro-scale model with finite element analysis and the error analysis was carried out for validating the simulation method. Besides, the nonlinear coupled multi-scale analysis method, based on the couple mechanism of two scales, was realized by using the user defined subroutines in ABAQUS, which is cooperated with a computationally efficient method. Finally, the influence of the plasticity evolution in micro-scale model in terms of particle reinforced materials on the macro mechanical properties was studied. Since the present method and codes are also applicable for the other composite materials, this work can provide useful reference for the study of other composite materials.