two-scale three-dimensional boundary element framework for degradation and failure in polycrystalline materials

A fully three-dimensional two-scale boundary element approach to degradation and failure in polycrystalline materials is proposed. The formulation involves the engineering component level (macroscale) and the material grain scale (micro-scale). The damage-induced local softening at the macroscale is modelled employing an initial stress approach. The microscopic degradation processes are explicitly modelled by associating Representative Volume Elements (RVEs) to relevant points of the macro continuum and employing a three-dimensional grain-boundary formulation to simulate intergranular degradation and failure in the microstructural Voronoi-type morphology through cohesive-frictional contact laws. The scales coupling is achieved downscaling macro-strains as periodic boundary conditions for the RVE, while overall macro-stresses are obtained via volume averages of the micro-stress field. The comparison between effective macro-stresses for the damaged and undamaged RVE allows to define a macroscopic measure of material degradation. Some attention is devoted to avoiding pathological damage localization at the macro-scale. The multiscale processing algorithm is described and some preliminary results are illustrated.