Multi-scale analysis of multiple damage mechanisms coupled with inelastic behavior of composite materials (Q1582541)

An attempt is made to introduce damage and plasticity internal state variables at both macro and mesoscale levels in order to provide sufficient details of defects and their interaction to properly (i.e. physically) characterize the material behavior. This provides an adequate characterization of these defects in terms of size, orientation, distribution, spacing, interaction among defects, etc. In order to achieve this, the bridging of multiple scales needs to be addressed and implemented properly. The gradient of these internal state variables must also be incorporated in the theory in order to address the nonlocal effects.