Thermo-mechanical modelling of materials containing micro/nano inclusions with imperfect interfaces

In the present work, we present an efficient numerical procedure to compute the effective properties of materials containing micro and nano particles with imperfect interfaces. Firstly, a contiuum framework is proposed to model the size effect occuring in nanomaterials. For this purpose, we use the imperfect coherent interface model based on the Laplace-Young equation. Secondly, we model imperfectly bonded particles using the spring layer model. Both models are implemented through a combined XFEM/Level-set method, that allows modelling the different heterogeneities with arbitrary shapes and distributions through regular meshes. Even though this study is concerned with material analysis, it provides the basis for the introduction of particles with imperfectly bounded interfaces in forming processes analysis, e.g. in polymer injection including nano/coated particles.