Microstructural effects on damage in composites – computational analysis

In this paper, microstructural effects on the damage resistance of composite materials are studied numerically using methods of computational mesomechanics of materials and virtual experiments. Several methods and programs for automatic generation of 3D microstructural models of composites based on the geometrical description of microstructures as well as on the voxel array data have been developed and tested. 3D FE (Finite Element) simulations of the deformation and damage evolution in particle reinforced composites are carried out for different microstructures of the composites. Some recommendations for the improvement of the damage resistance of lightweight metal matrix composites with ceramic reinforcements are obtained.