The accommodation of martensitic phase transformation strains by the ferritic matrix in dual-phase steels

Dual-phase (DP) steels are an important class of advanced high-strength steels (AHSS) and constitute a major share of steels for the automotive industry. A microstructure consisting of hard martensite embedded in a soft ferritic matrix gives them a good combination of strength and ductility. The martensite formation in the microstructure from...

Simulating hot asphalt compaction in Bullet Physics: Discrete modelling of the superpave gyratory compaction process by implementation of Burgers’ contact model in Bullet Physics

Asphalt concrete is the most used material in road construction. Analysing the behaviour and properties of this material is vital for modern day society. Currently, this is mostly done in labs using actual asphalt mixtures. However, this is a very expensive and time consuming process. An upcoming alternative approach is the use of computational...

Micromechanical Modelling of Porous Asphalt Mixtures

With the attempt to reduce traffic noise, porous asphalt (PA) mixture is widely used as a wearing course on the highways in the Netherlands. However, due to the open structure, PA mix pavement easily suffers from the loss of individual aggregates from its surface, which is named as ravelling. After the initial ravelling, the damage can rapidly...

Nanomechanical Characteristics of Interfacial Transition Zone in Nano-Engineered Concrete

This study investigates the effects of nanofillers on the interfacial transition zone (ITZ) between aggregate and cement paste by using nanoindentation and statistical nanoindentation techniques. Moreover, the underlying mechanisms are revealed through micromechanical modeling. The nanoindentation results indicate that incorporating...

Analysis of work hardening mechanisms in Quenching and Partitioning steels combining experiments with a 3D micro-mechanical model

Quenching & Partitioning (Q&P) steels owe their good strength-ductility combinations to the martensite/austenite (α’/γ) mechanical interactions and to the formation of mechanically-induced martensite (α′_mech) through the transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP) effect. An essential role is played by carbon, whose...

Effect of the anisotropy of martensitic transformation on ferrite deformation in Dual-Phase steels

The volume increase and shape change during austenite to martensite transformation in dual-phase (DP) steels are largely accommodated in the microstructure by the deformation of the surrounding ferrite matrix. Accurate estimation of transformation-induced deformation of ferrite via experiments and modeling is essential for predicting the...

The effect of hydrogen content and yield strength on the distribution of hydrogen in steel: a diffusion coupled micromechanical FEM study

In this study, we investigate the effect of the heterogeneous micromechanical stress fields resulting from the grain-scale anisotropy on the redistribution of hydrogen using a diffusion coupled crystal plasticity model. A representative volume element with periodic boundary conditions was used to model a synthetic microstructure. The effect...

Contact mechanics based solution to predict modulus of asphalt materials with high porosities

Asphalt mixtures with high porosities (known as porous asphalt (PA) mixes) are becoming a popular choice among road authorities as it provides better skid resistance while also reducing tire-pavement noises. Towards the design and manufacture of PA mix pavement, the evaluation of the mechanical properties of PA mixes is of great importance....

Micromechanical simulation of porous asphalt mixture compaction using discrete element method (DEM)

The paper aims to simulate the micromechanical behavior of asphalt mixtures during the compaction process using the Discrete Element Method (DEM). The interactions between the components of a Porous Asphalt (PA) mixture were represented using an Elastic Viscoelastic Contact Model (EVCM), which is a user-defined model implemented in EDEM...

Continuum-based micromechanical models for asphalt materials: Current practices & beyond

The mechanical properties of asphalt mixture are always required for the evaluation of the durability of pavements. In order to obtain these properties without conducting expensive laboratory tests and using calibrated empirical models, research studies have been carried out to develop micromechanics-based models. Continuum-based...

Microstructure informed micromechanical modelling of hydrated cement paste: Techniques and challenges

Application of micromechanical modelling of hydrated cement paste (HCP) gains more and more interests in the field of cementitious materials. One of the most promising approaches is the use of so-called microstructure informed micromechanical models, which provides a direct link between microstructure and mechanical properties. In order to...