Coarse-grained free-energy-functional treatment of quasistatic multiscale processes in heterogeneous materials

Authors

H. Zhou, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Ruqiang Feng, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Dennis J. Diestler, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Xiao Cheng Zeng, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

10-1-2005

Comments

Published by American Institute of Physics. J. Chem. Physics 123, 164109 2005. ©2005 American Institute of Physics. Permission to use. http://jcp.aip.org/.

Abstract

A new treatment of quasistatic (reversible) multiscale processes in heterogeneous materials at nonzero temperature is presented. The system is coarse grained by means of a finite-element mesh. The coarse-grained free-energy functional (of the positions of the nodes of the mesh) appropriate to the thermodynamic-state variables controlled in the relevant process is minimized. Tests of the new procedure on a Lennard-Jonesium crystal yield thermomechanical properties in good agreement with the “exact” atomistic results.