No abstract

3D finite element simulations have been performed in order to assess the ability of four classical homogenization schemes to model the elastic behavior of solids with parallel cracks, namely the dilute, Mori-Tanaka, self-consistent and differential schemes. The cracks have been represented by right circular cylinders with aspect ratios as low as 10 −3 in the simulations whose centroids are randomly located in the REV. Special attention has been paid to the crack aspect ratio variation predicted by the different schemes, since the goal is ultimately to propose a non-linear micromechanical model of a cracked solid, taking complete crack closure into account.The results confirm earlier studies which showed that the differential scheme was best suited for this kind of morphology when computing elastic moduli, but additionally, we show that changes in crack aperture are also accurately predicted. It is however noted that the randomness in the positions of the cracks leads to significant scatter in the magnitude of the aperture variation inside a given simulation, which suggests that the cracks do not close simultaneously. As a consequence, nonlinear numerical simulations accounting for contact between the crack lips should be performed in order to completely validate a non-linear micromechanical model in alternate tension/compression loading cases.