Heterogeneous Beam Element for Multiscale Modeling of Composite Beam-like Structures

Traditional multiscale methods homogenize a beam-like structure into the Timoshenko model or the Euler-Bernoulli model with effective properties computed over a structure gene in terms of a cross-section or a 3D segment with spanwise periodicity. However, for real beam-like structures such as wind turbine blades, helicopter rotor blades and flexbeams, or high aspect-ratio wings, the structures are usually not uniform or periodic along the spanwise direction. Furthermore, structural imperfections such as voids or ply-drops along the axial direction could exist. Thus traditional multiscale methods cannot be rigorously applied to these cases. In this work, we present a new multiscale method based on a novel application of the recently developed Mechanics of Structure Genome to analyze the beam-like structure. The beam-like structure was homogenized into a series of 3-node Heterogeneous Beam Element (HBE) with effective beam element stiffness matrix, which is used as input for a one-dimensional beam element using Abaqus User Element subroutine (UEL). Using the macroscopic behavior of beam element as input, we can also perform dehomogenization to predict the local stresses and strains in the original structure. We use two examples (a periodic composite beam and a tapered beam) to demonstrate the capability of HBE and show its advantages over traditional methods.

Reference:
Chiu, R.; and Yu, W.: “Heterogeneous Beam Element for Multiscale Modeling of Composite Beam-like Structures,” Proceedings of the AIAA SciTech Forum, Jan. 3-7, 2022.

[Engine.elsewhere]

Great work Rong and Dr. Yu! Looking forward to your future work on this.