CAD modeling for the components made of multi heterogeneous materials and smart materials

Abstract

There appear more critical requirements for special functions of components/products in various areas, which can be satisfied only by using heterogeneous materials and/or smart materials. The heterogeneous materials include composite materials, functionally graded materials, and heterogeneous materials with a periodic microstructure. To design and manufacture the components made of these materials, the computer models for representing them need first to be built so that further analysis, optimization and manufacturing can be implemented based on the models. This paper develops such a modeling method, which can be implemented by employing the functions of current CAD graphic software and obtain the model that includes all the material information (about periodic microstructures, constituent composition, inclusions, and embedded parts) along with geometry information in 3D solid modeling without the problem arising from too much data. © 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.