A hierarchical asymptotic homogenization approach for the analysis of the effective mechanical behavior of viscoelastic composite materials

Abstract : Several examples of naturally occurring materials consist of viscoelastic constituents. The procedure of modeling and characterization of these materials involves significant challenges due to they often present heterogeneous structures with hierarchical disposition. Attractive cases can be found in the human body tissues, such as skin and bone.

In the present work, the three-scale Asymptotic Homogenization Method (AHM) is applied to model a linear viscoelastic composite material with generalized periodicity and two hierarchical levels of organization. We exploit the potential of the approach and study the overall properties of a variety of heterogeneous structures. In addition, the work deals with the modeling of the imperfect interfaces for composites where the adhesive and some of the adherents exhibit viscoelastic effect. We perform comparison with different homogenization approaches, such as the Finite-Volume Direct Averaging Micromechanics (FVDAM) and the Locally Exact Homogenization Theory (LEHT), as well as with experimental measurements.