Predicting the Microstructure-Dependent Mechanical Performance of Materials for Early-Stage Design

Abstract

Effect of microstructure on backwall signal attenuation measurements using focused transducers AIP Conf. Abstract.A description is offered of a simulation and testing methodology for structural materials that incorporates the influence of the local, microscopic and submicroscopic heterogeneous nature of material properties directly into design procedures. The new methodology builds upon a multitude of rapid microstructural and property assessments of selected local regions of a material (i.e. single-crystal regions, defected regions, grain aggregates, etc.), perhaps from a fully-processed component, or from materials specifically prepared to represent selected aspects of the full-scale process. The results from these assessments are used to define parameters within a hierarchy of mathematical and numerical representations of the material, and together in turn these may be used in design performance simulation codes to predict the intrinsic response of larger-scale structures. Further, the methodology may be used to anticipate the effects of defects on the performance of the full-scale structure. Most steps of this alternative design and test methodology are amenable to automation, and the methodology as a whole will reduce the number of iterative large-scale cycles required to qualify a material's suitability for structural service; thus, the new method is a framework for accelerating the development of structural materials.

Statistically equivalent representative volume elements (SERVE) for material behaviour analysis and multiscale modelling

“…Yet the need is clear for attaining holistic material and component designs [26]. Further, MPSE-wide efforts on integrated computational materials engineering (ICME) and the materials genome initiative (MGI), require that both the material structure and functionality can be captured in a digital environment [4,[27][28][29][30][31][32]. More tangible to industry, other efforts pursue model-based material definitions to enable location-specific property design optimisation [33].…”