A finite-strain model for anisotropic viscoplastic porous media: I – Theory

In this work, we propose an approximate homogenization-based constitutive model for estimating the effective response and associated microstructure evolution in viscoplastic (including ideally-plastic) porous media subjected to finite-strain loading conditions. The proposed model is based on the “second-order” nonlinear homogenization method, and is constructed in such a way as to reproduce exactly the behavior of a “composite-sphere assemblage” in the limit of hydrostatic loading and isotropic microstructure. However, the model is designed to hold for completely general three-dimensional loading conditions, leading to deformation-induced anisotropy, whose development in time is handled through evolution laws for the internal variables characterizing the instantaneous “ellipsoidal” state of the microstructure. In Part II of this study, results will be given for the instantaneous response and microstructure evolution in porous media for several representative loading conditions and microstructural configurations.