Multiscale homogenization model for wood and the variables influence over the mechanical properties

Resumo

Wood has great potential as a structural material with excellent strength, lightweight, thermal insulation, and acoustical properties. However, its hierarchical nature and complexity represent a challenge in wood structure’s design and manufacture. Homogenization can be a helpful tool for understanding wood behavior, encouraging wood usage as a structural material for new applications. The homogenization method calculates the effective properties of a material with many heterogeneities, represented as a base cell that repeats itself over the continuum. This base cell is called Representative Element volume (RVE), a volume with all the information necessary to describe the geometry of the different phases and the local material properties. This work uses a displacement- based approach with Finite Element Method (FEM) to calculate six boundary conditions applied over the RVE, where each boundary condition relates to a different stiffness matrix component. The result is a homogenized material at the macroscale, considering the mechanical properties of each phase and its distribution over the RVE. This work identifies the most important variables for each scale and discusses its influence over the effective properties. The homogenization method allows for a better understanding of the different variables that influence the mechanical properties of wood at each scale.