Homogenisation approximates a complex heterogeneous material with a homogeneous material
Anyone working with 3D image data (such as CT, micro-CT, SEM…) in Materials Science faces the challenge of reconstructing and obtaining useful results from scans. Computing material properties such as solid, flow and electrical properties is a particular challenge, as this often requires a lot of computational resources, or a workflow using multiple software packages.
At Simpleware, we’ve developed some novel software techniques for calculating effective material properties that show the potential of 3D image data for characterising samples. This process involves using finite element-based homogenisation, implemented through the Physics Modules +SOLID (effective stiffness/elastic moduli), +FLOW (absolute permeability) and +LAPLACE (electrical conductivity/permittivity, thermal conductivity, and molecular diffusivity).
