Multiscale Modeling of Elasto-Plasticity in Heterogeneous Geomaterials Based on Continuum Micromechanics

TL;DR

This paper develops a multiscale modeling approach for elasto-plastic behavior in heterogeneous geomaterials using continuum micromechanics, aiming to effectively upscale microscopic plasticity effects to the macroscopic level.

Contribution

It introduces an eigen-strain based formulation for multiscale elasto-plasticity and validates it against finite element simulations, advancing upscaling techniques in geomechanics.

Findings

Eigen-strain approach accurately predicts macroscopic behavior.

Model effectively captures plasticity in heterogeneous materials.

Validation shows good agreement with FE simulations.

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate some micromechanical aspects of elasto-plasticity in heterogeneous geomaterials. The aim is to upscale the elasto-plastic behavior for a representative volume of the material which is indeed a very challenging task due to the irreversible deformations involved. Considering the plastic strains as eigen-strains allows us to employ the powerful tools offered by Continuum Micromechanics which are mainly developed for upscaling of eigen-stressed elastic media. The validity of such eigen-strain based formulation of multiscale elasto-plasticity is herein examined by comparing its predictions against Finite Element (FE) simulations.