Mesodynamics of a 3D C/C: A dedicated numerical strategy

This paper deals with the prediction of the dynamic response of a three-dimensional carbon/carbon composite (3D C/C) up to failure. This study was carried out jointly by LMT-Cachan and the Centre d’Études de Gramat, a research centre of the French Ministry of Defense. In a previous collaboration, a model of the material on the mesoscale (scale of the matrix blocks, yarns sections, interfaces) had been built and identified (see [Héreil PL, Allix O, Gratton M. Shock behavior of 3D carbon/carbon composite. J de Physique IV, Colloque C3, 1997;7:529–34; Allix O, Dommanget M, Gratton M, Héreil PL. A multi-scale approach for the response of a 3D carbon/carbon composite under shock loading. Compos Sci Technol 2001;61:409–15. .]). The 3D analysis of the behavior on such a scale leads to complex calculations. A domain decomposition strategy is adopted to perform these computations. It enables a specific treatment of the interfaces and leads to parallel computing. In this paper, the basic aspects of this dedicated methodology along with the first results are presented.