Smart composites with tunable stress–strain curves

Abstract

Smart composites with tunable stress–strain curves are explored in a numerical setting. The macroscopic response of the composite is endowed with tunable characteristics through microscopic constituents which respond to external stimuli by varying their elastic response in a continuous and controllable manner. This dynamic constitutive behavior enables the composite to display characteristics that cannot be attained by any combination of traditional materials. Microscopic adaptation is driven through a repetitive controller which naturally suits the class of applications sought for such composites where loading is cyclic. Performance demonstrations are presented for the overall numerical framework over complex paths in macroscopic stress–strain space. Finally, representative two- and three-dimensional tunable microstructures are addressed by integrating the control approach within a computational environment that is based on the finite element method, thereby demonstrating the viability of designing and analyzing smart composites for realistic applications.