A computational homogenization analysis of materials using the stabilized mesh-free method based on the radial basis functions

Abstract

This study presents a novel application of mesh-free method using the smoothed-radial basis functions for the computational homogenization analysis of materials. The displacement field corresponding to the scattered nodes within the representative volume element (RVE) is split into two parts including mean term and fluctuation term, and then the fluctuation one is approximated using the integrated radial basis function (iRBF) method. Due to the use of the stabilized conforming nodal integration (SCNI) technique, the strain rate is smoothed at discrete nodes; therefore, all constrains in resulting problems are enforced at nodes directly. Taking advantage of the shape function which satisfies Kronecker-delta property, the periodic boundary conditions well-known as the most appropriate procedure for RVE are similarly imposed as in the finite element method. Several numerical examples are investigated to observe the computational aspect of iRBF procedure. The good agreement of the results in comparison with those reported in other studies demonstrates the accuracy and reliability of proposed approach.

Keywords:

homogenization analysis; mesh-free method; radial point interpolation method; SCNI scheme.