Research internship Msc.

FE-based multiscale modelling of soft acoustic metamaterials

DONALD ZEKA

01-10-2020 - 28/02/2021

Abstract
The homogenization of heterogeneous solids under conditions of material and geometric non-linearity is a non-trivial problem
in mechanics. However, tackling it is relevant for several applications such as those involving biological tissues or reinforced
elastomers. In the present work I discuss and implement the analytical homogenization method by P. Ponte-Castañeda and
E. Tiberio for two-phase elastomers under large strains. In particular, the analysis refers to a two-phase composite made of
a polymeric matrix containing porous spherical inclusions, which resonant structure applies to acoustic invisibility.
Starting from available experimental data, first I homogenize the mechanical behaviour of the composite, then I compare the
results with finite element simulations. At least with reference to the case considered, I show how analytical homogenization
appears as a valid rapid design tool alternative to finite element analyses.

1 Introduction
The considered composite consists of a polyurethane (PU) elastomeric matrix in which spherical porous silicone-based
inclusions (beads) are uniformly dispersed. Depending on the manufacturing process [3,14], different sizes and dispersions of
the beads can be obtained, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: (A, C and E) SEM images of beads obtained from the microfluidic process with an average diameter of 192 ± 25 µm (A)
338 ± 32 µm (C), 505 ± 40 µm (E). (B, D and F) Corresponding size histograms. (G) SEM image of the spheres obtained from the
double emulsion process with an average diameter of 203 ± 110 µm. (H) Size histogram.

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 Particular attention must be paid to the multi-scale structure of the composite. We can then identify two different ho-
mogenization scales: a mesoscopic scale, which corresponds to the polymeric matrix and the porous beads, and a microscopic
scale, which corresponds instead to the scale of the spheres and pores.
In order to characterize the mechanical behavior of the composite, experimental tests under confined compression were car-
ried out on cylindrical specimens with a diameter of 30 mm and a height of 30 mm. The tests were carried out on a pure
polyurethane specimen and on composite specimens with respectively 2% and 6.6% of beads with 30% of porosity.

Figure 2: Confined compression test on pure PU.

(a) Confined compression test on 2% filled PU. (b) Confined compression test on 6.6% filled PU.

Figure 3: Confined compression tests on filled PU.

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2 Analytical homogenization
Homogenization (in continuum mechanics) means to “create” the model of a simple homogeneous body so that it is equivalent,
in some sense to be defined each time (for example in terms of energy), to the description in terms of a continuous model of a
heterogeneous body. Homogenization methods are based on the actual or equivalent behavior of a finite volume of material,
considered statistically homogeneous. Finite volumes of material are identified as unit cells in the case of periodic-structured
materials and as RVEs (representative volume element) for statistically heterogeneous materials. The response of this volume
is considered to be equal to that of the equivalent homogeneous continuum with respect to which the mechanical response is
sought.
In this work the microscale homogenization takes into account recent results by O. Lopez-Pamies [15], in which an approximate
explicit expression is derived for the strain energy density of porous incompressible elastomers, valid for large deformations
and for a wide range of porosities. The homogenization of the mesoscale, on the other hand, is treated implicitly through
the second order method of P. Ponte-Castañeda and E. Tiberio [13]. Then the results of the analytical homogenization are
compared with finite element tests on the composite.
With reference to the standard nomenclature in continuum mechanics in a lagrangian description, we call F the deformation
(or transformation) gradient of the continuum, P the stress tensor (first Piola-Kirchooff stress tensor) and W (F) the strain
energy density of hyperelastic materials, written as a function of the invariants I1 , I2 , I3 of the left Cauchy-Green tensor
C = FT F, or the deviatoric and volumetric invariants i1 = I1 J −2/3 , i2 = I1 J −4/3 and J = det(F). The stress tensor is
∂W (F)
related to the deformation gradient through P = .
∂F

2.1 Homogenization of the microscale

Silicone, which has a Poisson’s ratio close to 0.5, can be considered as incompressible and its elastic behavior may well be
represented by a neo-hookean incompressible strain energy density
(
µ
(I1 − 3) if det(F) = 1
W (F) = 2 (2.1)
+∞ otherwise,
with µ representing the shear modulus of the silicone within the limit of small deformations.
By considering a silicone with a volume fraction f0 of porosities, in Lopez-Pamies et al. [15] an approximate explicit result is
presented for the effective elastic energy of porous neo-hookean incompressible elastomers valid for generic finite strain fields
and any type of non-percolative isotropic distribution of equiaxial closed empty pores, at least for porosities from 0 to 30%:
" 1/3
#
3(1 − f0 )µ 3µ (1 − f0 )J 1/3 (3J 2/3 + 2f0 ) f J 1/3 (2J + f0 − 2)
W (F, f0 ) = [I1 − 3] + 2J − 1 − − 0 . (2.2)
2(3 + 2f0 ) 2J 1/3 3 + 2f0 J − 1 + f0

In the limit of small deformations F → I, this result gives a linear elastic porous material with equivalent shear and bulk
moduli given by

3(1 − f0 ) 4(1 − f0 )
µ̃ = µ, k̃ = µ, (2.3)
3 + 2f0 3f0
which corrispond to the estimates obtained by Hashin and Shtrikman for the shear and compressibility moduli relevant to
porous linear isotropic materials with an incompressible matrix.

2.2 Homogenization of the mesoscale

The analytical homogenization of the mesoscale is performed by making use of the “second order method” by P. Ponte-
Castañeda and E. Tiberio [13]. This method consists in obtaining an approximate estimate of the effective energy stored
in a multi-phase composite through an approximation process to the second order of the elastic energies of the underlying
phases. Without going into the details of the method, the homogenized energy of a two-phase hyperelastic composite is the
following:
2  
X
(r) (r) 1 (r) (r) (r)
W
f (F) = cr W (F ) + P (F ) · (F − F ) , (2.4)
r=1
2
(r)
with F being the macroscopic deformation gradient, cr is the volume fraction of phase r and F is the mean deformation
field on each phase, which can be found by solving the following system of non-linear equations:
(r)
F = A(r) F + (A(r) − I)(∆L)−1 (∆τ ); r = 1, 2. (2.5)
Finally, the effective stress in the composite P is related to the macroscopic deformation gradient F through

∂W
f (F)
P= , (2.6)
∂F

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which represents the effective (homogenized) constitutive relationship for the hyperelastic composite.
For the implementation of the analytical homogenization of the composite it is then necessary to choose the elastic strain
energies associated with the two phases of the composite: the polyurethane matrix and the porous silicone beads.
For the beads I make use of the explicit homogenized strain energy density by Lopez-Pamies 2.2, with the material parameters
of Table 1.
For the PU matrix, in order to describe at least the non-linear trend of the stress-strain curve in Figure 2, I have chosen to
consider a Yeoh polynomial model of the second order :
2
X 2
X
W = Cp0 (i1 − 3)p + Dk (J − 1)2k , (2.7)
p=1 k=1

with the material constants Cp0 and Dk chosen in Table 2 in order to ensure a good correspondence with the experimental
curve, as shown in Figure 4.

µ (MPa) f0

0.3 0.3

Table 1: Beads material parameters.

C10 C20 D1 D2

2.5 0 0 2 × 106

Table 2: PU material parameters (MPa).

Figure 4: Comparison between the experimental curve of pure PU and the interpolation of Table 2.

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 The confined compression state is characterized by the following expression of the macroscopic deformation gradient:
 
λ 0 0
F = 0 1 0
0 0 1

with λ < 1 which corresponds to the compression on the respective axis.

The solution of the non-linear system 2.5 was performed through an iterative fixed point scheme, while the derivative 2.6 by
making use of a central numerical derivative of the second order.

2.3 Results
Below are shown the results of the analytical homogenization.

(a) (b)

Figure 5: Comparison between experimental tests and analytical homogenization for PU with 6.6 % (a) and 2 % (b) of
porous beads.

In both cases the homogenization result is very accurate for small deformations. With the increase of the imposed
deformation, the analytical evaluation overestimates the actual behavior of the composite, however the non-linearity trend
is adequately represented.
Figure 6 shows the predicted trend of porosity in the inclusions as a function of the applied deformation. The effective
porosity of the composite is fundamental for acoustic applications, in fact the acoustic properties of the composite are strongly
dependent on the porosity and the dimensions of the spheres and only in optimal conditions there is resonance and therefore
acoustic attenuation.

Figure 6: Analytical estimate of porosity in the inclusions for 6.6 % filled PU as a function of macroscopic deformation.

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3 Computational homogenization
The computational homogenization of the composite was performed using the finite element method. The generated RVE
was imported into the commercial software ANSYS Mechanical APDL [1,2] . The analyses carried out are quasi-static
non-linear analyses with implicit procedure, and include both material and geometric non-linearities. Once the numerical
convergence was reached, a volumetric average of the stress on the RVE was calculated for each step.
The RVE was generated through a Python script and consists of a cubic block in which spherical inclusions of defined
percentage and size are contained, both in polydisperse and monodisperse phase, generated in random positions within the
block to simulate an isotropic distribution.
Strain energy density 2.2 was implemented in Ansys by writing a USER material subroutine. Ansys SOLID186, a 20-node
second-order 3D element, was used for both phases. In modeling the interaction between spheres and matrix, continuity
of the discretization at the matrix-sphere interface was ensured, thus simulating a perfect adhesion between matrix and
inclusions.
Kinematical uniform boundary conditions (KUBC) were considered for the displacemente boundary conditions.

Figure 7: Section view of the discretized RVE.

3.1 Results
Having carried out discretization and RVE size sensitivity, we compare here the results of the analytical and computational
homogenization on an RVE for the different sizes of the spherical inclusions shown in Figure 1.
Table 3 shows the average computation time for the finite element analyses compared with the computation time of the
analytical homogenization. The results refer to the time required to obtain a stress-strain curve of the type presented in the
following figures.
The results obtained with the FEM analyses are in excellent agreement with the analitic predictions, for various dimensions
of the porous spherical inclusions, proving that the proposed analytical homogenization is independent on the actual size of
the inclusions, but depends only on their volume fraction.

Homogenization Calculation time (min)

Analytical 13
Computational 33

Table 3: Computational time.

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 (a) Type A monodisperse spheres. (b) Type C monodisperse spheres.

(c) Type E monodisperse spheres. (d) Type G polydisperse spheres.

Figure 8: Comparison between FEM and analytical homogenization for 6.6% filled PU.

4 Conclusions
In this work I discussed the homogenization of composites with porous inclusions for the purpose of acoustic applications.
The porous microscale, which is the most critical from the point of view of the finite elements, has been homogenized through
an explicit strain energy density. Using an explicit result for the microscale made it possible to overcome the absence of
analytical non-linear homogenization methods that take into account the multiscale structure of a composite.
The mesoscale was then homogenized, both analytically and in an entirely computational way. The lack of experimental data
on the components of the composite did not allow to obtain a very accurate estimate on the behavior for large deformations,
however, the estimate for small deformations is accurate, as is the non-linearity trend of the material. Finite element tests
corroborate the analytical model, confirming that it does not depend on the actual size and dispersion of the inclusions.
The calculation times of the analytical model can be still reduced, as the code used is very raw and susceptible to multiple
improvements. Nevertheless, the analytical model is faster than the computational approach while maintaining the same
accuracy, which was the goal of the following work.

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