Multi-scale modelling of heterogeneous structures with inelastic constitutive behavior

• Published in: Engineering computations Vol. 26; no. 1/2; pp. 6 - 28
• Main Authors: Niekamp, Rainer, Markovic, Damijan, Ibrahimbegovic, Adnan, Matthies, Hermann G., Taylor, Robert L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Emerald Group Publishing Limited 02.01.2009
• Subjects: Structures; Mathematical modelling; Finite element analysis; Software engineering
• ISSN: 0264-4401; 1758-7077
• DOI: 10.1108/02644400910924780

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to consider the computational tools for solving a strongly coupled multi-scale problem in the context of inelastic structural mechanics.Design methodology approach - In trying to maintain the highest level of generality, the finite element method is employed for representing the microstructure at this fine scale and computing the solution. The main focus of this work is the implementation procedure which crucially relies on a novel software product developed by the first author in terms of component template library (CTL).Findings - The paper confirms that one can produce very powerful computational tools by software coupling technology described herein, which allows the class of complex problems one can successfully tackle nowadays to be extended significantly.Originality value - This paper elaborates upon a new multi-scale solution strategy suitable for highly non-linear inelastic problems.