Date of Award
1-1-2017
Document Type
Masters Thesis
Degree Name
M.S.
Organizational Unit
Daniel Felix Ritchie School of Engineering and Computer Science
First Advisor
Yun-Bo Yi, Ph.D.
Second Advisor
Nathan Sturtevant
Third Advisor
Matthew Gordon
Keywords
Monte Carlo scheme, Effective conductivity, Mechanical properties of particulate system
Abstract
The effective conductivity of random particulate material system is computationally investigated using the Monte Carlo scheme and finite element method. A cubic system consisting of randomly-dispersed, equal-sized, deformable ellipsoids are modeled in this study. The steady-state conduction analysis along with a finite element analysis are performed to evaluate the electrical or thermal conductivity for the mechanical contact system. To represent more realistic material system, interfacial friction and gap conductance (or contact resistance) are included among the contacting particles. The Monte Carlo simulations are implemented to give a quantitative relationship between the effective conductivity and the inclusion volume fraction. Several parametric studies are performed to quantify the relationships, for example, (1) the particle number, (2) the particle shape, (3) the random distribution of particle, (4) the interfacial friction, (5) gap conductance. The study reveals the nonlinear relationship of the gap conductance with respect to the overall conductivity. Therefore, the mechanical properties of particulate system are strongly dependent on the interactions among inclusions. The study of microstructure of material is merited in advanced composite manufacture.
Publication Statement
Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
Rights Holder
Dongfang Zhao
Provenance
Received from ProQuest
File Format
application/pdf
Language
en
File Size
93 p.
Recommended Citation
Zhao, Dongfang, "Computational Study of the Effect of Interparticle Contact in Conductive Properties of Random Particulate Systems" (2017). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1245.
https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/1245
Copyright date
2017
Discipline
Mechanical Engineering