V.1.1 General Description: 522 Digimat-FE

522 Digimat-FE Overview
V.1.1 General description
Digimat is the state-of-the-art linear and nonlinear multi-scale material modeling software suite from e-Xstream
engineering.
The Digimat software enables the prediction of the constitutive behavior of heterogeneous and/or anisotropic
materials such as Polymer Matrix Composites (PMC), Rubber Matrix Composites (RMC), Metal Matrix
Composites (MMC) or even nanocomposites.
Digimat-FE is the finite element-based homogenization module of Digimat. Digimat-FE is used to generate a
realistic Representative Volume Element (RVE) of a large variety of material microstructures (plastics, rubbers,
metals, graphite, etc.). The resulting finite element model can be solved using any FEA code.
Digimat-FE has extensive set of capabilities which enable a user-friendly generation of extremely complex
material microstructure morphologies that are accurately solved at a reasonable CPU cost.
Digimat-FE has its own built in mesher, solver and post processor, making it able to run end-to-end finite
element homogenization analyses.
Digimat-FE also interfaces to Abaqus/CAE and Abaqus/Standard, ANSYS Workbench and Classic, LS-Dyna
and Marc. The interfaces to Marc, Abaqus/Standard, Ansys Classic and LS-Dyna rely on the built in mesher,
they export ready-to-run input files. The interfaces to Abaqus/CAE and ANSYS Workbench also enable the
automatic creation of RVE geometry and mesh into those softwares through the export via script option. The
export via script option is deprecated. All recent options are not supported through this option.
As an alternative to these finite element-based methods, Digimat-FE provides a solver based on the Fast
Fourier Transform (see Section V.1.4).
For more information
• On known limitations of Digimat-FE: please refer to appendix XV.4
• On guidelines for the usage of Digimat-FE: please refer to appendix XVI.3
• For examples & tutorials: please check appendix XVII.4

V.1.1. General description 523
Figure V.1.2: Digimat-FE GUI: generation of representative volume elements (RVEs).

524 Digimat-FE Overview
V.1.2 Pre and post-processing
Digimat-FE is Digimat graphical interface for pre- and post-processing allowing:
• The generation of a representative volume element (RVE) of the material microstructure;

• The submission of Digimat-FE analyses;
• The post-processing of Digimat-FE analyses, in matrix or X-Y plots;
• The generation of a finite element mesh on the generated geometry;
• The management of the interaction of Digimat-FE with the built in FEA solver or with complementary
CAE software;
• The post-processing of FEA analyses for the generated RVEs.
V.1.3 Interfaces to external FEA
Digimat-FE to Marc, Abaqus/Standard, Ansys Classic and LS-Dyna
These interfaces rely on the built-in mesher. It enables the users of Digimat-FE and those finite elements
codes to create FEA input decks that are ready to be solved using the targeted solver. Outputs of those
FE analyses can then be post processed using either Digimat-FE (except for LS-Dyna) or their dedicated
post-processing tools.
Digimat-FE to Abaqus/CAE (Deprecated options)
This interface enables the users of Digimat-FE and Abaqus/CAE to automatically:
• Export the RVE geometry and import it in Abaqus/CAE;

• Mesh the imported geometry, according to preset seeding options;
• Define material models in Abaqus/CAE;
• Apply the appropriate boundary conditions;
• Run an Abaqus/Standard analysis on the generated RVE.
Digimat-FE to ANSYS Workbench (Deprecated options)
This interface enables the users of Digimat-FE and ANSYS Workbench to automatically:
• Export the RVE geometry and import it in ANSYS Workbench;

• Mesh the imported geometry, according to preset seeding options;
• Define material models in ANSYS Workbench;
V.1.4. Fast Fourier transform-based solver 525
• Apply the appropriate boundary conditions;

• Run an ANSYS analysis on the generated RVE.
To use this capability, it is needed to copy all files and directories located in
INSTALL_DIR\DigimatFE\AnsysCustomization
in directory
ANSYS_DIR\Addins\ExternalConnection\Customization\
where INSTALL_DIR is Digimat installation directory, e.g.,
C:\MSC.Software\Digimat \2020.0
and ANSYS_DIR is ANSYS installation directory, e.g.,
C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v195
It can be needed to merge directories in ANSYS installation directory.
V.1.4 Fast Fourier transform-based solver
In addition to the internal FE solver and the interfaces to the external FE codes, Digimat-FE has a spectral
solver based on the Fast Fourier transform (FFT). This solver is dedicated to the analysis of periodic RVE
discretized with a regular grid of points, following the pioneering work of Moulinec and Suquet (1998).
It has several advantages over the finite element-based solvers:
• No mesh has to be generated.
• It may be considerably faster.
• It has a smaller memory footprint.
However, it does not offer the same flexibility as the FE-based solvers. The FE-based solver will be preferred,
among other examples:
• if a locally fine discretization is desirable, since the grid of points has to be regular in order to apply the
FFT;
• if debonding has to be modelled, since interface elements can not be added with this solver;
• if the RVE and/or the boundary conditions are not periodic;
• if a large stiffness ratio is observed between materials.
Finally, the FFT-based solver does not yet support all the features supported by the FE-based solvers, see
XV.4.8.
Digimat-FE V.2
Graphical User Interface
V.2.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 528

Pre-processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 528
Computation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 531
Post-processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 531
Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 532
V.2.2 Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533
Input files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533
Output files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533
V.2.3 Command line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 535
Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 535
Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 535
527
528 Digimat-FE Graphical User Interface
V.2.1 Overview
In this section, we present the graphical user interface (GUI) of Digimat. This interface is shared by Digimat-
MF and Digimat-FE. The workflow to define a Digimat-MF or Digimat-FE analysis is identical, but to minor
options which are specific to each application.
The definition of a Digimat analysis is not limited to the definition of material laws but requires the description
of the microstructure morphology of the composite being modeled as well as the definition of a loading.
The full process, from the definition of the material composite to the post-processing of the results, is presented
in this section.
Pre-processing
The graphical user interface of Digimat is divided in three main areas, see Figure V.2.1:
• the menu and icon bars at the top,

• the Digimat tree on the left,
• the main viewport on the right.
The Digimat tree is a dynamic tree, which can be collapsed, or expanded, by clicking on the minus symbol,
or plus symbol. By right-clicking on an item of the tree, a context menu appears giving the user the access
to a set of actions. For instance, a right-click on Materials opens a context menu from which material laws
can be added or loaded.
Figure V.2.1: Graphical user interface of Digimat.

V.2.1. Overview 529
To define an analysis, the tree should be followed from top to bottom, and the appropriate items defined and
validated.
Digimat item
Digimat is the first item in the tree. Clicking on Digimat displays a tab in the main window, called General
tab. This tab offers the possibility to:
• Specify the working directory of the analysis. It is the directory where all result files are stored.
• Give a Job Name to your analysis.
• Add some information about the job via the Header text section. It is a free area that has no effect
on the computations.
• Select the analysis on which an action should be executed.
• Choose an action to do:
– Run geometry generation: start the generation of the RVE geometry.
– Run complete workflow: this option is only available for interfaces using the Digimat-FE internal
mesher (i.e. Digimat-FE internal solver, Abaqus/Standard, Ansys Classic, LS-Dyna and Marc) and
the FFT solver. It runs the generation of the RVE geometry, automatically meshes (or creates the
FFT grid), creates the solver input file and runs the analysis using the selected solver.
– Data check: this verifies if the analysis is correctly defined. This action can be also be performed
from the icon bar, see Figure V.2.2.
– Write file saves in the working directory a file containing all the definition of your analysis. The
extension of this file is .mat.
– View file opens the working directory and allows you to select the file to be edited.
Once an action is chosen, it has to be submitted by hitting the Submit button. An analysis can also be run
by clicking on the appropriate icon, see Figure V.2.2.
An analysis can also be killed, terminated or suspended via the Kill, Terminate or Suspend buttons. Note
that no proper result files will be written if the analysis is killed.
Figure V.2.2: Icon bars.
The name of an analysis is the concatenation of the Job Name and the Analysis name. By default, it is
DefaultJobName_Analysis1.
A specific area is dedicated to the output of information message sent by Digimat to the user during a
computation: the Digimat log messages area. This area is updated on the fly during the computation.
A second area is dedicated to the output of the information message sent by the Graphical User Interface
(GUI): the Digimat GUI messages area. This area summarizes all the actions performed by the user in the
GUI.
Analysis1 item
Clicking on Analysis1 displays a tab called General parameters.
Analysis1 is a generic name indicating where the definition of an analysis starts in the tree. Digimat supports
the definition of multiple analyses. The dynamic tree can then contain more than one analysis. By default the
name Analysis1 will be incremented to Analysis2, Analysis3, etc.
Adding a new analysis in the tree is done by right-clicking on the Digimat tree item. To execute an action
on an analysis, the user should first select this analysis either in the tree or in the Analysis drop-down menu
of the Digimat tree item before carrying out the action. The name Analysis1 can be changed by modifying
the field Name in the General parameters tab. The material modeler can also be changed, yielding an easy
switch between Digimat-MF and Digimat-FE.
The General parameters tab is composed of four areas allowing the user to define the analysis options (see
Chapter V.3).
Materials item
Under the Materials item should all the materials present in the composite be defined. Materials can be added
or loaded, from the hard drive or from a Digimat-MX database, by right-clicking on the Materials tree item
or by the top menu bar. Material laws can also be loaded and saved via the icon bar, see Figure V.2.2-5/6.
Other actions are available in the top menu.
The definition of a material law is a two step process. First the material model should be selected among the
available laws and, second, the parameters of the selected material law should be defined. These two steps
correspond to two tabs, the Model and Parameters tabs respectively. To move from the Model tab to the
Parameters one, the Validate button must be clicked. For the material to be created, the Create button
has to be pressed in the Parameters tab.
Note that when created, the material is automatically named Materialn, where n is an automatically incre-
mented number. The material name can be changed in the Model tab.
The icon in front of the being defined material is dark. It turns bright once the material is correctly defined.
This behavior is common for all items that need to be defined in the Digimat tree. Looking at the Digimat tree
is thus an easy way to see whether some items are correctly defined or not.
Microstructures item
The Microstructures tree item allows the definition of several microstructures in a same Digimat analysis.
The definition of a microstructure implies the creation of phases, one matrix phase for foams and, additionally,
other phase types for other microstructures. The creation of several microstructures can be useful in multilayer
(see Section V.6.3).
By right-clicking on the Microstructures item, a new microstructure can be added to the analysis. The generic
name for microstructure is Microstructuren where n is an automatically incremented number. By clicking on
the created microstructure, it is possible to choose between a generic microstructure and some special ones:
fabrics, lattices and foams. Under the microstructure item, the phases constituting the composite are to be
created.
A microstructure can be copied or deleted. Phases can be loaded, saved or deleted. Microstructure actions
are only available by right clicking on the Microstructures item in the tree, while phase actions are accessible
via right click on the microstructure name, e.g., Microstructure1, by the top menu bar or by the icon bar, see
Figure V.2.2-7/8.
Several types of phases exist for each type of microstructure:
• Generic microstructure: matrix, inclusion, continuous fiber, void, strand, and grain
• Fabric: matrix, yarn, and inclusion
• Lattice: matrix, inclusion, and void
• Foam: matrix
The definition of a composite phase is a multi-step process as well, similar to that of defining a material (see
Chapter V.5).
RVE item
RVE stands for representative volume element; that is, the elementary volume of material that is being modeled
in Digimat. This volume element can either consist of one or several layers, each layer corresponding to a
given microstructure.
V.2.1. Overview 531
The RVE tree item allows the user to choose between a single layer analysis and a multilayer one (except for
foams and lattices for which this feature is not available). In case of a multilayer analysis, the definition of
the stacking will be done in this tree item (see Section V.6.3).
Loadings item
For an analysis to be completely defined, appropriate loadings on the RVE should be defined. This is again
a multi-step, or multi-tab, process that the user should achieve according to the procedure defined in the
Materials item section.
The number of loadings to be defined is dependent on the type of analysis that is being carried out (see
Chapter V.8).
Solution item
The Solution tree item allows the user to perform the export of the FE analysis to the selected solver.
For all FE code interfaces relying on the Digimat-FE internal mesher and the FFT solver, it also allows starting
and monitoring the progress of the FEA computation.
Computation
To run a Digimat-FE analysis, the user must:
• Select the analysis to be solved. This can be done either by clicking on the according analysis name in
the Digimat tree, or by selecting the correct analysis in the list available in the General parameters
tab.
• Submit the job via the appropriate icon, see Figure V.2.2-4, or via the submit button of the Digimat tree
item General parameters tab.
The progress of the analysis can followed via Digimat log messages area of the Digimat tree item.
Post-processing
Specific post-processing tools are available to analyze the results of Digimat-FE analyses (see Chapter V.10).
They can carry out different types of post-processing tasks like
• volumetric mean operation on the RVE sets,

• arithmetic mean operation on the RVE sets,
• distribution computation on the RVE sets.
The results of the post-processing tasks can then be plotted in the plot area of Digimat-FE to be visualized.
The post-processing is a two step process:
1. the post-processing tasks need to be carried out, this is explained in the section Abaqus odb post-
processing ;
2. once loaded, the results can be plotted in the plot area.
These different actions can be carried out by right-clicking on the Plot n tree item, n being the plot item
number.
If the built-in FE solver is used, it is also possible to view the 3D detailled results (selection of the field output,
of the increment, of the element sets to visualise). It is also possible to perform cut into the 3D model and to
control the scale used for the contour plot.
If the built-in FFT solver is used, the two-step process described above is not necessary. All the available
results are automatically loaded as
• average results over the phases,
• distributions,
• 3D fields.
If a crystal plasticity material is used, pole figures are automatically computed and displayed.
Figure V.2.3: Plot context menu.
Tools
Three tools are available from the icon menu; see Figure V.2.2-9/10/11, namely:
• the definition of functions,

• the definition of failure criteria,
• the definition of local axes.
In Digimat-FE, only the definition of functions is available. The other two tools are dedicated to Digimat-MF.
Functions allow to define temperature-dependent thermo-mechanical properties, as well as user-defined loading
histories (see Section III.3.1).
V.2.2. Files 533
V.2.2 Files
This section introduces the user to the different files used in a Digimat-FE analysis. When using Digimat-FE,
two different executables are actually involved. The first one is digimatGUI.exe, which is the Graphical User
Interface that allows to easily setup and run Digimat-FE analysis. The second executable is digimatFE.exe;
it has no user interface and is in charge of effectively generating the RVE geometry. These two executables
communicates together through files written on the hard disk.
Input files
This section details the different input files that can be used in a Digimat-FE analysis
• .mat file: written by the GUI (in the working directory), used by digimatFE.exe. It contains the defini-
tion of the analysis, only the parameters that digimatFE.exe needs to generate the RVE (i.e., phases,
microstructure, and analysis parameters). A .mat file is always needed to run a Digimat analysis.
• Inclusion size distribution file (*.txt): written by the user, used by digimatFE.exe. It is only needed if
inclusion size distributions are used in the current analysis. The format is the following:
Lower size bound – upper size bound probability

Example :
0.2 - 0.3 0.03578629 0.3 - 0.4 0.060987903 . . .
• .step files containing inclusion shape: written by the user, used by digimatFE.exe. They are necessary
only if inclusion phases using inclusion shape defined in STEP files are present in the current analysis.
Output files
All of these files are written in the working directory of Digimat. They are are written by digimatFE.exe and
read by digimatGUI.exe.
• DefaultJobName_Analysis1.log: Log file of digimatFE.exe, it contains a lot of useful information about

the analysis: if it was successful or not, how much time was necessary to complete, . . .
• DefaultJobName_Analysis1.zip: “container” file written by digimatFE.exe. It contains all the results of
the analysis. This is an example list of files that can be found in this zip archive.
– DefaultJobName_Analysis1.daf: Digimat Analysis File (*.daf) that was used to generate this anal-
ysis.
– DefaultJobName_Analysis1.log: Log file for this analysis.
– DefaultJobName_Analysis1.mat: The input file that was used by digimatFE.exe for this analysis.
– For the matrix phase:
∗ JobName_AnalysisName_matrixPhaseName.xmt_txt.
∗ JobName_AnalysisName_matrixPhaseName_uncut.xmt_txt.
– For all inclusion phases:
∗ JobName_AnalysisName_PhaseName.xmt_txt: Geometry file. It contains the geometry for
this phase.
∗ JobName_AnalysisName_PhaseName_centroids.txt: Text file with the centroid of each in-
clusion.
∗ JobName_AnalysisName_PhaseName_orientation.txt: Text file with the orientation of each

inclusion.
∗ JobName_AnalysisName_PhaseName_perf.log.
∗ JobName_AnalysisName_PhaseName_position.txt: Text file with the position of each inclu-
sion. This is the position of the centroid of the uncut inclusion. This explains why it can, in
some cases, be outside of the RVE.
∗ JobName_AnalysisName_PhaseName_size.txt: Text file with the actual size of each inclusion.
This file is useful only when using size distributions.
∗ JobName_AnalysisName_PhaseName_volumeIncl.txt: Text file with the volume and the out-
side surface of each inclusion.
This zip file is completely self-contained. If you want to archive the results of a Digimat-FE analysis, it is the
only file that you need to keep.
Manually loading this file in Digimat-FE will load the analysis definition (*.daf file) and the geometry files
(*.xmt_txt files) in the Graphical User Interface. If a mesh file is present in the archive (*.dof file), it will also
be loaded and displayed in the Graphical User Interface.
V.2.3. Command line 535
V.2.3 Command line
This section introduces the usage of Digimat-FE in command line mode. The command line mode is available
under Windows and Linux, while the interactive mode is only available under Windows. In command line
mode, the full workflow of a Digimat-FE analysis is executed without any user interaction:
• Loading a Digimat analysis file
• Generating the RVE geometry
• Meshing, except with the FFT solver
• Creating the FEA input decks
• Running FE analysis with the selected FE or FFT solver
• Monitoring the run of FE analysis
• Running the automatic post-processing (extraction of macro stresses and strains) upon completion of
the FE analysis (except if the selected FE solver is LS-Dyna, for which this capability is not available)
Therefore, the starting point for a Digimat-FE command line analysis is a valid Digimat-FE analysis file (.daf).
The Digimat-FE startup script to call is located in the Digimat-FE installation directory (in the "exec" subdi-
rectory, named DigimatFE.bat under Windows and DigimatFE.sh under Linux).
Mandatory arguments are
• -runFEWorkflow (only under Windows, not necessary under Linux)
• input=path_to_daf_file
Optional arguments are
• workingDir=path_to_working_directory : if this argument is not defined, the default Digimat-FE work-
ing directory will be used (i.e. the one defined in the DIGIMAT_Settings.ini file)
• feaWorkingDir=path_to_working_directory_for_fea: if this argument is not defined, the FE solver
will use the same working directory as Digimat-FE.
• jobName=job_name: if this argument is not defined, the default job name will be used (DefaultJob-
Name).
Examples
A full example of a command line run under Windows:

C:\MSC.Software\Digimat\2020.0\DigimatFE\exec\DigimatFE.bat -runFEWorkflow
input=C:\users\user\Analysis1.daf workingDir=C:\MSC.Software\Digimat\working
feaWorkingDir=C:\temp jobName=myFirstJob
The same under Linux:
/opt/Digimat/2020.0/DigimatFE/exec/DigimatFE.sh input=/home/user/Analysis1.daf
workingDir=/home/user/Digimat/working feaWorkingDir=/home/user/fea/working
jobName=myFirstJob
Linux
Before being able to use Digimat-FE in command line mode under Linux on a fresh install it is necessary to
check and update the DIGIMAT_Settings.ini file. It must contain the following keys with valid values
• DIGIMATFE_Working_Directory
• ABAQUS_Directory (only if Abaqus is going to be used as the FE solver)

• ANYS_Directory (only if ANSYS is going to be used as the FE solver)
• MARC_Directory (only if Marc is going to be used as the FE solver)
• LS-Dyna_SMP_Exec (only if LS-DYNA is going to be used as the FE solver)
Limitations
The following limitations apply when using the command line mode under Linux:
• Fabrics: for analyses involving fabrics, it is necessary to have the .fabx file (generated by the Digimat-
FE GUI under Windows) next to the .daf file. In the .daf file, the fabric_file key in each WOVEN
section must be adjusted to contain only the name of the .fabx file (i.e. not the full path).
• Inclusion with user-defined shape (CAD file) : not supported under Linux
• Running Digimat-FE under Linux needs to run full workflow (geometry generation and execution). In
case of only FE simulation is needed, the DigimatFE.sh script provided in Digimat installation needs
to be adapted. Please contact digimat.support@mscsoftware.com for more details.
Digimat-FE V.3
Analysis parameters
V.3.1 Analyses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538

FE solver choice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538
Analysis type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538
V.3.2 RVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 539
RVE type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 539
537
538 Digimat-FE Analysis parameters
V.3.1 Analyses
This section details the different analysis parameters available in Digimat-FE. These parameters are of crit-
ical importance in the definition of an analysis as they dramatically affect the geometry of the generated
microstructure.
This section articulates around the main fields available in the General parameters tab of the Analysis tree
item (see Figure V.3.1).
The name of an analysis can be changed from this tab and the material modeler switched from Digimat-FE to
Digimat-MF, and vice-versa. This allows an easy and straightforward conversion of the analysis type.
Figure V.3.1: General parameters for a Digimat-FE analysis.
FE solver choice
The FE solver that is going to be used should be selected at the begining of the analysis definition. This
choice will affect which material models and which modeling and meshing options are available.
Analysis type
V.3.2. RVE 539
The user can choose between four analysis types, the type of analysis determining the loads to be applied and
the computed physical properties:
• Mechanical:
This choice requires the definition of the corresponding mechanical loading, for example a 3D strain
tensor, in order to compute the mechanical response of the RVE. Typical outputs will be stress/strain
curves, the tangent stiffness matrix, etc.
• Thermo-mechanical:
This choice requires the definition of the corresponding thermal and mechanical loading in order to
compute the thermo-mechanical response of the RVE Typical outputs will be stress/strain curves, the
tensor of coefficients of thermal expansion, etc.
• Thermal:
This choice requires the definition of the corresponding thermal loading, i.e., a temperature gradient, in
order to compute the thermal response of the RVE. Typical outputs will be the heat flux, the thermal
conductivity, the temperature field, etc.
• Electrical:
This choice requires the definition of the corresponding electrical loading, i.e., a gradient of electric
potential, in order to compute the electrical response of the RVE. Typical outputs will be the electrical
conductivity, the current density, etc.
V.3.2 RVE
RVE type
Two different types of RVEs can be generated in Digimat-FE, 3D RVEs and 2D plane strain RVEs.
3D RVEs are, by far, the most common type. They allow accurate 3D modeling of a very wide range of
microstructures and physical phenomena.
On the other side, 2D plane strain RVEs are only applicable for a few particular microstructures (most notably
matrix reinforced with long unidirectional fibers), but the CPU time needed to generate the RVE and solve
the FE model is much lower (typically one or two orders of magnitude lower).
Main limitations for 2D plane strain RVEs:
• Only ellipsoid (planar) and “From STEP” inclusion shapes are supported.
• Modeling of Matrix/filler decohesion: only cohesive interface are supported (cohesive inter-phases are
not supported).
• All loadings that are not in the (1,2)-plane are not supported.
• Only isotropic materials are supported.
Beside these few particularities and limitations, the extension from 3D RVE to 2D plane strain RVE is straight-
forward. All the parameters relative to a volume for a 3D RVE relate to an area for 2D RVE, e.g., “minimum
relative volume of inclusion” should be read “minimum relative area of inclusion”.
Digimat-FE V.4
Materials
V.4.1 Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 542

Viscohyperelasticity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 542
Generalized Drucker-Prager plasticity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 542
Generalized Thermo Drucker-Prager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 542
Crystal plasticity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 543
V.4.2 Cohesive material & Debonding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 550
Debonding at inter-phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 550
Debonding at interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 550
Breaking glue model for debonding at interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 551
Cohesive zone model for debonding at inter-phase or interface . . . . . . . . . . . . 551
Application to DFC materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 555
541
542 Digimat-FE Materials
V.4.1 Materials
All materials are defined in the Chapter IV.6 except the Viscohyperelastic and the Crystal plasticity models
which are only available in Digimat-FE .
Viscohyperelasticity
The viscohyperelastic model combines a viscoelastic define with Prony Series (see Section IV.6.8 ) and an
hyperelastic (see Section IV.6.12 ) model where the parameters of the hyperelastic model describe the instan-
taneous behaviour. The viscohyperelastic model is only available with the following FE code
• FESolver,
• Marc,
• Abaqus.
Generalized Drucker-Prager plasticity
The generalized Drucker-Prager plasticity model is extensively described in section IV.6.3. Some specificities
of the Digimat-FE implementation are listed hereafter:
• In Abaqus, the default eccentricity is set to 0.1 while the default dilation angle is computed to ensure
associativity of the plastic flow.
• In Marc and FESolver, the yield stress exponent and the eccentricity are respectively enforced to 1 and
0 while the dilation angle is computed to ensure associativity of the plastic flow.
Generalized Thermo Drucker-Prager
The Generalized Thermo Drucker-Prager constitutive model available in Digimat-FE is derived from the
Drucker-Prager plasticity model for which each elastic, plastic and thermal parameters are temperature inde-
pendent.
The total strain observed by the material is assumed to be the sum of the elastic strain, the plastic strain and
the thermal strain such as,
= e + p + th , (V.4.1)
The Cauchy stress, the total strain, the thermal strain and the plastic strain are then related by
σ = C : ( − p ) + β(T ) such as β(T ) = −C : th (T ), (V.4.2)
where C is Hooke’s operator which dependent of the Young modulus and the Poisson’s ratio. The thermal
strain is isotropic and is defined as a function of the actual temperature T, the reference temperature T ref
and the initial temperature T ini as:
th (T ) = {α(T ) [T − Tref ] − α(Tini ) [Tini − Tref ]} 1, (V.4.3)
where the coefficient of thermal expansion α is temperature independent and the reference temperature being
the temperature at which the thermal strain is null.
V.4.1. Materials 543
The plastic strains are computed using the generalized Drucker-Prager plasticity model, extensively described
in section IV.6.3. Refer to the previous section for the default parameters used in Digimat-FE.
Table V.4.1 lists the additional parameters introduced in this page, their denomination as well as their corre-
sponding dimensions.
Name Symbol Dimensions - M,L,T,θ,I SI units

Coefficient of Thermal Expansion α θ-1 K-1
Table V.4.1: Parameter names, symbols, dimensions and SI units.
Crystal plasticity
Experimental observations underlying the theory of crystal plasticity in metals deforming solely by dislocation
slip can be summarised as follows (see e.g, Sevillano et al. (1980))
• Dislocation slip is a stress-driven process which occurs along well-defined crystallographic planes and
directions.
• As dislocation glides through the crystal lattice, the material is sheared, the deformation is isochoric and
the crystal lattice remains globally unaffected.
• Lattice deformations are elastic and their related amplitude is two orders of magnitude lower than plastic
strains.
• The crystal lattice rotates so as to fulfil local kinematic constraints.
To distinguish elastic and plastic strains, it is common to rely on a multiplicative decomposition of the gradient
tensor F (Segurado and Llorca, 2013; Segurado et al., 2018)
F = Fel Fp = R? Uel Fp . (V.4.4)
Fp transforms the initial configuration into a fictitious intermediate configuration corresponding to a crystal
deformed by slip only (see Figure V.4.1). The subsequent transformation may in turn be decomposed into a
symmetric tensor, Uel representing elastic stretch and an orthogonal tensor R? representing lattice rotation.
The latter rotation is a state variable of the model. It is important, on the one hand, because it determines
the macroscopic texture development on the other hand because the stress tensor is attached to the crystal
lattice and a proper account of the lattice rotation ensures objectivity of the the theory.
Using the definition of the velocity gradient,L = ḞF−1 , expression (V.4.4) leads to the additive decomposition
of L as
L = Lel + Lp = Lel + Fel Lp F−1el (V.4.5)
The plastic velocity gradient Lp is considered as the sum of the shear rates along the different slip systems:
X
Lp = (bα ⊗ mα ) γ̇ α (V.4.6)
α
or equivalently " #
X
Ḟp = α α
(b ⊗ m ) γ̇ α
Fp (V.4.7)
α
where bα is the normalized Burgers vector, mα is the slip plane normal of the αth slip system. The crystal
is assumed to behave as an elasto-viscoplastic solid and the dislocation slip rates are computed based on the
power-law rate equation
τα
γ̇ α = γ̇0 | α |m (V.4.8)
g
F R? Uel
Fp
Figure V.4.1: Decomposition of a crystal’s deformation into the elastic and the plastic components.
where γ̇0 , τ α , g α , m are respectively the reference shear rate, the resolved shear stress, the critical resolved
shear stress and strain rate sensitivity exponent. The resolved shear stress on the αth slip system τ α is obtained
by projecting the Kirchhoff stress, τ , on the αth slip system

1 T
α
F · F − I : (bα ⊗ mα ) (V.4.9)

τ =C
2
where C represents the elastic stiffness tensor of the crystal. The elastic stiffness tensor depends on the crystal
symmetry:
Cubic Hexagonal
   
C11 C12 C12 C11 C12 C13
   
C12 C11 C12  C12 C11 C13 
   
C C12 C33  C C13 C33 
 12  13
C= C=
 
 

 C44 


 C44 

C44 C44
   
   
C44 C66
The axis of the reference system for a cubic system are parallel to the [100], [010] and [001] directions. The
response of the crystal is identical in these three directions, leading to 3 independent constants : C11 , C12 and
C44 . For hexagonal symmetry, the x-axis is aligned with the crystal a1 (i.e., [21̄1̄0] direction) and the z-axis is
parallel to the c-axis of the crystal (i.e.,[0001] direction). Hexagonal crystal exhibits 5 independent constants:
C11 , C12 , C13 , C33 and C44 while C66 = (C11 − C12 )/2. Positive definiteness of the stiffness tensor requires
strictly positive Cij .
The evolution of the critical resolved shear stress, g α , is obtained using the classical hardening model of
Asaro-Needleman (Asaro and Needleman, 1985), which defines the current slip resistance as:
X
ġ α = qαβ h(Γ)γ̇ β (V.4.10)
β
where qαβ with qα=β and qα6=β are the self- and the latent-hardening coefficients, respectively. The hardening
RtP
modulus h depends on the accumulated plastic shear Γ = 0 α |γ̇ α | dt. Two approaches are available:
• The Asaro-Needleman hardening law (Asaro and Needleman, 1985)
h0 Γ
h(Γ) = h0 sech2 | |, (V.4.11)
τS − τ0
• The extended Voce hardening law (Tome et al., 1984)

h0 hS h0 Γ
h(Γ) = h0 + h0 − hS + Γ exp − (V.4.12)
τS − τ0 τS − τ0
where h0 is the initial hardening modulus, τ0 the initial yield shear stress, τS the saturation yield shear stress
and hS the saturation hardening modulus. Note that τS is defined in absolute terms and should be higher
than τ0 .
Table V.4.2 lists all the parameters introduced in this page, their denomination as well as their corresponding
dimensions.
Name Symbol Dimensions - M,L,T,θ,I SI units

Elastic modulus Cij ML-1 T-2 Pa = N/m2
Initial hardening modulus h0 ML-1 T-2 Pa = N/m2
Saturation hardening modulus hS ML-1 T-2 Pa = N/m2
Critical resolved shear stress τ0 ML-1 T-2 Pa = N/m2
Saturation shear stress τS ML-1 T-2 Pa = N/m2
Reference strain rate γ̇0 T−1 s−1
Strain rate sensitivity m 1 -
Table V.4.2: Parameter names, symbols, dimensions and SI units.
Digimat-FE supports body-centered cubic (BCC), face-centered cubic (FCC) and hexagonal closed-packed
lattices (HCP). The available slip systems for each slip systems are presented in Tables V.4.3, V.4.4, V.4.5
and V.4.6.
The crystal plasticity model is only available with FE and FFT solvers.
111 < 110 > systems

1 (111) 11̄0

2 (111) 01̄1

3 (111) 1̄01
4 (11̄1) [110]
5 (11̄1) [011]

6 (11̄1) 1̄01

7 (1̄1̄1) 11̄0
8 (1̄1̄1) [011]
9 (1̄1̄1) [101]
10 (1̄11) [110]

11 (1̄11) 01̄1
12 (1̄11) [101]
Table V.4.3: FCC slip systems

110 < 111 > systems

1 (011) 11̄1

2 (011) 1̄1̄1
3 (01̄1) [111]

4 (01̄1) 1̄11

5 (101) 1̄11

6 (101) 1̄1̄1
7 (1̄01) [111]

8 (1̄01) 11̄1

9 (110) 1̄11

10 (110) 1̄11̄
11 (1̄10) [111]

12 (1̄10) 111̄
211 < 111 > systems

1 (211) 1̄11
2 (2̄11) [111]

3 (21̄1) 111̄

4 (211̄) 11̄1

5 (121) 11̄1

6 (1̄21) 111̄
7 (12̄1) [111]

8 (121̄) 1̄11

9 (112) 111̄

10 (1̄12) 11̄1

11 (11̄2) 1̄11
12 (112̄) [111]
Table V.4.4: BCC slip systems: part I

321 < 111 > systems

1 (123) 111̄

2 (1̄23) 11̄1

3 (12̄3) 1̄11
4 (123̄) [111]

5 (132) 11̄1

6 (1̄32) 111̄
7 (13̄2) [111]

8 (132̄) 1̄11

9 (213) 111̄

10 (2̄13) 11̄1

11 (21̄3) 1̄11
12 (213̄) [111]

13 (231) 11̄1

14 (2̄31) 111̄
15 (23̄1) [111]

16 (231̄) 1̄11

17 (312) 1̄11
18 (3̄12) [111]

19 (31̄2) 111̄

20 (312̄) 11̄1

21 (321) 1̄11
22 (3̄21) [111]

23 (32̄1) 111̄

24 (321̄) 11̄1
Table V.4.5: BCC slip systems: part II

Basal systems

1 (0001) 21̄1̄0

2 (0001) 1̄21̄0

3 (0001) 1̄1̄20
Prismatic systems

1 (011̄0) 21̄1̄0

2 (1̄010) 1̄21̄0

3 (11̄00) 1̄1̄20
Second order prismatic systems

1 (21̄1̄0) 011̄0

2 (1̄21̄0) 1̄010

3 (1̄1̄20) 11̄00
Pyramidal systems

1 (011̄1) 21̄1̄0

2 (1̄011) 1̄21̄0

3 (11̄01) 1̄1̄20

4 (1̄101) 112̄0

5 (01̄11) 2̄110

6 (101̄1) 12̄10
Pyramidal <c+a> systems

1 (1̄101) 21̄1̄3

2 (1̄101) 12̄13

3 (101̄1) 1̄1̄23

4 (101̄1) 2̄113

5 (01̄11) 1̄21̄3

6 (01̄11) 112̄3

7 (11̄01) 2̄113

8 (11̄01) 1̄21̄3

9 (1̄011) 112̄3

10 (1̄011) 21̄1̄3

11 (011̄1) 12̄13

12 (011̄1) 1̄1̄23
Second order pyramidal <c+a> systems

1 (2̄112) 21̄1̄3

2 (12̄12) 1̄21̄3

3 (112̄2) 1̄1̄23

4 (21̄1̄2) 2̄113

5 (1̄21̄2) 12̄13

6 (1̄1̄22) 112̄3
Table V.4.6: HCP slip systems

V.4.2 Cohesive material & Debonding
This section covers the different options available in Digimat-FE to model inclusion–matrix, fiber–matrix or
strand debonding.
For inclusion– or fiber–matrix debonding, two different approaches exist: debonding at interface and debonding
at inter-phase. In the Digimat-FE terminology, the interface is the surface (i.e., 2D, no thickness) between an
inclusion and the matrix. The inter-phase is the zone in the matrix phase that is influenced by an inclusion,
it has a finite thickness.
At the level of the finite element model, allowing debonding between the inclusions and the matrix is a good
way to avoid unreal element distortion in the matrix in the vicinity of the fiber tips. Therefore, it can help
to solve convergence difficulties in cases where excessive distortion is observed in the matrix. However, it
should be noted that for simpler cases, the use of cohesive elements can also make convergence more difficult
(especially if the cohesive material is damaging a lot).
The four following sections explain how to effectively model inclusion– or fiber–matrix debonding with Digimat-
FE while the fifth section details which of these capabilities can be applied to strand debonding in discontinuous
fiber composites (DFC).
Debonding at inter-phase
In Digimat-FE, what is called “inter-phase” is the matrix zone in the vicinity of an inclusion that is influenced
by the presence of this inclusion. This zone has a finite thickness. To define an interface with a cohesive
behavior in Digimat-FE, it is necessary to specify the thickness of the inter-phase (relative or absolute) and
the cohesive material to use.
At the level of the finite element model, it is modeled using one layer of cohesive elements. The inter-phase
(i.e., coating) generated in Digimat-FE is replaced by a layer of cohesive elements (COH3D6). These cohesive
elements are obtained by extruding a 2D triangle mesh on the surface of the inclusion, along the normal to
this surface. They are thus wedge elements. Because of the way they are generated (extrusion), this modeling
technique is limited to inclusions that have a “C1 continuous” outer surface, i.e., no sharp angles. It is also
limited to inter-phase of constant thickness. The supported inclusion shapes are spheres and sphero-cylinders.
This layer of cohesive elements is linked to the inclusion and to the matrix using tie constraints. Because of
these tie constraints, and because the matrix, inclusions and cohesive inter-phase are meshed separately, node
adjustments are necessary to ensure full contact between the inclusion and its cohesive inter-phase and between
the cohesive inter-phase and the matrix. That can lead to troubles when the thickness of the cohesive inter-
phase is very small (with respect to the average element size in the matrix and in the inclusion): elements with
very small or negative volume. When this happens, a possible solution is to increase the inter-phase thickness.
Debonding at interface
In Digimat-FE, what is called “interface” is the surface between the inclusion and the matrix (or between the
inclusion and its coating when it exists). Debonding at interface should be used when the zone of the matrix
that is influenced by the inclusion is very thin. Two categories of models are available: breaking glue models
and cohesive zone models. To use either of these, the only thing that has to be defined in Digimat-FE is the
breaking glue or the cohesive material.
At the level of the finite element model, debonding at the interface is most often modeled in Digimat-FE using
a special surface interaction property, very similar to a contact. Because of this, it suffers the same difficulties
V.4.2. Cohesive material & Debonding 551
as regular contact. The most important one is the convergence problems that arise when using second order
elements. Therefore, it is recommended to use only first order tetrahedral elements when working with either
breaking glue or surface-based cohesive behavior.
In some particular cases, such as unidirectional composites with extruded meshes, microstructures with curved
sphero-cylinders or discontinuous fiber composites, debonding at interface with cohesive behavior is modeled
in Digimat-FE using zero thickness cohesive zone elements.
In order to more accurately describe the debonding behavior, friction effects can be accounted for by specifying
a non-zero friction coefficient.
Breaking glue model for debonding at interface
When modeling debonding at interface with the breaking glue model, the outer surfaces of the inclusions are
initially tied to the surrounding matrix material with the help of so-called sticky or glue contact conditions
which prevent any relative sliding between the bodies into contact. Upon mechanical loading of the material,
these glue or contact conditions are “broken” or suppressed, hence making it possible for the inclusion–matrix
interface to open up, as soon as the following criterion is met:

2 2 2
 tn + Stst + Sttt > 1 if tn ≥ 0

Sn
2 2 (V.4.13)
 Sts

t
+ Stt >1
t
otherwise
where:
• tn is the stress component which is normal to the inclusion–matrix interface

• ts and tt are the two shear stress components acting along the inclusion–matrix interface
• Sn is the maximum stress that can be withstood by the interface when subject to normal stresses only
• St is the maximum stress that can be withstood by the interface when subject to shear stresses only
Cohesive zone model for debonding at inter-phase or interface
Cohesive zone material model is used to model the material behavior in the zone (inter-phase or interface)
between inclusion and matrix. It is typically composed of an elastic part, defined by a traction-separation
law, a damage initiation criterion and a damage evolution law. However, definition of damage initiation and
evolution is facultative.
Linear elastic traction – separation law

A traction-separation law relates the nominal traction stress vector to the nominal strain across the cohesive
zone. Traction and separation vectors each have three components in 3D, one component normal to the
surface and two shear components. They are expressed in a local axis system, where the 3-axis is normal to
the surface, and the 1 and 2-axes are tangent.
Depending whether the cohesive material is used in an inter-phase or an interface, the traction-separation
elastic parameters will have a different meaning.
For debonding at inter-phase The elastic behavior can then be written as

    
t n 
 Knn Kns Knt   
  n

  
t = ts =  K Kss Kst  s = K,
 (V.4.14)

   sn  
t   K K K

 

t tn ts tt t
where the nominal strains ε are defined as follows

δn δs δt
n = , s = , t = , (V.4.15)
T0 T0 T0
with δ n , δ s and δ t being the separations (i.e., the displacement between upper and lower faces of the cohesive
element or the contact opening) and T0 the initial inter-phase thickness.
In Digimat-FE coupled behavior between the normal and shear components is not supported. This implies
that the off-diagonal terms in the elasticity matrix in the above expression will always be 0. That leaves only
three material parameters to be defined, Knn , Kss and Ktt . Moreover, the two shear stiffness components
will be most of the time the same.
In Abaqus models created by Digimat-FE, the thickness of the cohesive layer is always computed from the
nodes coordinates.
For debonding at interface The definition of the elastic behavior for cohesive interfaces is nearly the same
as for cohesive inter-phases, with the major difference that, since there is no thickness defined in this case,
it is necessary to work directly with separations instead of strains. Also, separation is not anymore the
relative displacement of upper and lower faces of a cohesive element, but simply the contact opening and slip
in case debonding is modeled through a special surface interaction property rather than with zero thickness
cohesive zone elements.
Traction-separation elastic behavior can thus be rewritten in the following form:
    
tn  K
 nn
Kns Knt  δ 
  n

  

t = ts =  Ksn
 Kss Kst  δs = Kδ.
 (V.4.16)

   
t  Ktn Kts K

δ 

t tt t
The components of K thus have dimension of [stiffness/length].
Damage initiation criterion

Five different criterions are available for damage initiation. The symbols < > in the formulas below are used
to signify that only positive values are taken into account (as compressive force or deformation does not create
damage).
• Maximum strain: damage is assumed to initiate when the maximum nominal strain ratio (as defined
in the expression below) reaches a value of one. When used with a cohesive inter-phase, this criterion
can be represented as

hn i s t
max , , = 1. (V.4.17)
0n 0s 0t
When used with a cohesive interface, nominal strains are replaced by separations. The criterion can then
be represented as

hδn i δs δt
max , , = 1. (V.4.18)
δn0 δs0 δt0
• Maximum stress: damage is assumed to initiate when the maximum nominal stress ratio (as defined
in the expression below) reaches a value of one. This criterion can be represented as

htn i ts tt
max , , = 1. (V.4.19)
t0n t0s t0t
It has the same expression for cohesive interface and for cohesive inter-phase.
• Maximum quadratic strain: damage is assumed to initiate when a quadratic interaction function
involving the nominal strain ratios (as defined in the expression below) reaches a value of one. This
criterion can be represented as
2 2 2
hn i s t
+ + = 1. (V.4.20)
0n 0s 0t
When used with a cohesive interface, nominal strains are replaced by separations. The criterion can then
be represented as
2 2 2
hδn i δs δt
+ + = 1. (V.4.21)
δn0 δs0 δt0
• Maximum quadratic stress: damage is assumed to initiate when a quadratic interaction function
involving the nominal stress ratios (as defined in the expression below) reaches a value of one. This
criterion can be represented as
2 2 2
htn i ts tt
+ + = 1. (V.4.22)
t0n t0s t0t
It has the same expression for cohesive interface and for cohesive inter-phase.
• Turon: for cohesive interfaces using the energy-based criterion of Benzeggagh–Kenane for damage
evolution, damage is assumed to initiate when
!η
2 2 n 2 2 2 o δs2 + δt2
hδn i + δs2 + δt2 = δn0 + δs0 + δt0 − δn0 2 (V.4.23)
hδn i + δs2 + δt2
where η is the exponent of the Benzeggagh–Kenane criterion. This criterion was suggested by Turon
et al. (2006) to ensure consistency between the damage initation and damage evolution criteria.
For strain-based criteria used in cohesive inter-phases, the parameters to define in Digimat-FE are 0n , 0s and
0t , respectively the maximum nominal strain in normal only mode and shear only mode (first and second
shear direction). When used in cohesive interfaces, the parameters to define in Digimat-FE are the maximum
separations, δn0 , δs0 and δt0 .
For stress-based criteria, the parameters to define in Digimat-FE are t0n , t0s and t0t , respectively the maximum
nominal traction in normal only mode and shear only mode (first and second shear direction).
For the Turon criterion, it is assumed that δs0 = δt0 and Knn = Kss = Ktt . The only damage initiation
parameters to define in Digimat-FE are t0n and t0s , respectively the maximum nominal traction in normal only
mode and shear only mode. Their values will be used to derive δn0 and δs0 = δt0 based on the values of Knn and
the values of the parameters of the energy-based damage evolution criterion, GC n and Gs . To avoid cohesive
C
laws exhibiting a snap-back behavior, the value of Knn must satisfy the two following conditions:
(t0n )2
Knn > (V.4.24)
2GC n
(t0s )2
Knn > (V.4.25)
2GC s
Digimat-FE will notify the user through a message saying that the normal or tangent stiffness is too small
should one of the above conditions be violated.
Damage evolution law

The damage evolution law controls how the stiffness of the inter-phase evolves when it starts to accumulate
damage. The level of damage is represented by a single scalar parameter D. Its value is 0 for undamaged
material and 1 for failed material. The stresses components of the traction-separation model are affected by
this damage variable in the following way:
(
(1 − D) t̄n , t̄n ≥ 0,
tn =
t̄n , otherwise,
(V.4.26)
ts = (1 − D) t̄s ,
tt = (1 − D) t̄t .
Two different evolution laws are supported for the damage variable D. They are the same when used with
cohesive interface or with cohesive inter-phase (as they are already expressed as a function of the separation).
• Evolution based on displacement

– With linear softening:
max
f 0

δm δm − δm
D= , (V.4.27)
max δ f − δ 0
δm m m
where δ m f is the effective separation at failure, δ m 0 is the separation at initiation of damage and
δ m max is the maximum separation attained in the complete loading history. The parameter that is
specified in the GUI is the separation between damage initiation and failure, i.e.,
f
δm 0
− δm . (V.4.28)
– With exponential softening:
max 0 
δ −δ

0
δm
 1 − exp −α δmf −δ0m 
D =1− max
1− m m
, (V.4.29)
δm  1 − exp (−α) 
where α is the “damage exponent”. This is the second parameter that has to be specified in the
GUI when using exponential softening.
Note: For these two damage evolution laws, the parameter δ m f - δ m 0 is absolute and has the dimension
of a length. It has to be chosen relatively to the initial thickness of the inter-phase.
• Evolution based on energy

Three mode-mix behavior are supported
– Independent
Complete failure is considered to occur when:
GT = GC (V.4.30)
where GT = Gn + Gs + Gt is the total energy dissipated and GC is the fracture energy which is
assumed to be independent of the mode mix. The only parameter that has to be defined in the
GUI is the fracture energy GC . The expressions for the evolution of the damage variable D are
given below.
∗ With linear softening
max
f 0

δm δm − δm
D= , (V.4.31)
δmmax δ f − δ 0
m m
with
2GC
f
δm = 0 , (V.4.32)
Teff
where Teff
0
is the effective traction at damage initiation.
∗ With exponential softening

f
Z δm
Teff dδ
D= , (V.4.33)
0
δm GC − G0
where G0 is the elastic energy at damage initiation.
– Power law
n n n
Gn Gs Gt
+ + =1 (V.4.34)
GCn GC s GCs
where it is assumed that GC s = Gt . The parameters that need to be defined in the GUI are:
C
(i) Gn , the fracture energy in normal mode, (ii) GC

C
s , the fracture energy in shear mode, and,
(iii) n, the exponent of the power law.
– Benzeggagh-Kenane
η
Gs + Gt
Gn + Gs + Gt = GC n + (GC
s − GC
n ) (V.4.35)
Gn + Gs + Gt
where it is assumed that GC s = Gt . The parameters that need to be defined in the GUI are:
C
(i) Gn , the fracture energy in normal mode, (ii) GC

C
s , the fracture energy in shear mode, and,
(iii) η, the Benzeggagh-Kenane exponent.
Section XVI.3.1 and Section XVI.3.2 provide some guidelines about the usage of cohesive zone models for
inter-phase and interface debonding. Section XVI.3.2 in particular gives some suggestions to avoid convergence
issues when using Marc or Digimat-FE solver as finite element solver as well as some recommendations about
the time increments that shall be used.
Application to DFC materials
In discontinuous fiber composites (DFC), the chips or strands can be viewed as a special type of inclusions
and some of the capabilities described above are applicable.
In DFC materials, the volume occupied by the matrix material is typically very small so that only debonding
at interface can be used. Depending on the finite element code which is used, either the breaking glue or the
cohesive zone models described above are available (see Section V.9.2). The implementation of these models
is slightly different when working with DFC materials. Since the mesh is always a voxel mesh, no contact or
tying conditions need to be imposed. It comes however with extra limitations (see Section V.9.2) and does
not solve completely the convergence issues which can sometimes be faced when using cohesive materials.
Some guidelines are given in Section XVI.3.3 to help:
• overcoming potential convergence issues;
• choosing the most appropriate solver and the most appropriate type of boundary conditions;
• post-processing the finite element results in Digimat-FE.
Digimat-FE V.5
Microstructure
V.5.1 Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 558

V.5.2 Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 560
Fabric microstructures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 560
Lattice microstructures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 573
Foam microstructures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 576
Metal microstructures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 585
Geometric microstructures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 586
V.5.3 Phase type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 587
V.5.4 Phase Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 588
V.5.5 Advanced parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 595
V.5.6 Rims . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599
V.5.7 Inter-phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 600
557
558 Digimat-FE Microstructure
V.5.1 Definition
This section introduces the definition of a microstructure in Digimat-FE by the specification of its constitutive
phases and the different available options. The definition of a microstructure in Digimat GUI is available by
right-clicking the Microstructures item in the Digimat tree. As microstructures are identified by their names,
each microstructure must have a different name that is entered in the text field Microstructure name in the
top of the dialog box.
Microstructures in Digimat-FE fall into 2 categories: Synthetic, made of 5 types of microstructure, and external
(see Figure V.5.1).
• Synthetic microstructure are build based on microstructure and phase(s) microscopic or macroscopic
and eventually statistical descriptors. Five types of microstructure are synthetic :
– Generic: this type consists of a user-defined combination of matrix, inclusion, void and/or contin-
uous fiber phases.
– Fabric: this type consists of a user-defined combination of matrix and yarns.
– Lattice: this type consists of an interconnected spatially periodic user-defined network of structural
elements (rods, filaments, beams..). Lattice microstructure is typically encountered in additive
manufacturing applications.
– Foam: this type consists of a highly porous material having a cellular structure with open or closed
pore morphologies.
– Metal: this type consists of a polycrystalline material having a combination of grains and eventually
matrix or voids, or cemented metal containing potentially prismatic grains, core-rims, inclusions,
voids and binder.
• External microstructure is an explicit representation coming from another software. This category relies
on geometry files at this stage.
The last four synthetic microstructures require more detailed description of their morphology prior to the
definition of phases, such as the weave pattern for fabrics, the filament cross-section for lattices, or the foam
type and topology. Once the microstructure type is set, the definition of a microstructure is typically done by
specifying its parameters through additional tabs that appear according to the selected microstructure type.
However, for the Generic type, the Parameters tabs appear in the phase definition step. Each of these tabs
offers a variety of parameters allowing the user to create very specific geometries.
V.5.1. Definition 559
Figure V.5.1: Definition of a microstructure name and type.

V.5.2 Parameters
Depending on the choosen Microstructure type, except Generic type for which the parameters are set in the
phase definition step, a different Parameters tab opens in order to introduce the related specific geometrical
options and parameters.
The next sections detail the definition of each microstructure type with illustrating examples.
Fabric microstructures
A fabric microstructure can be defined by choosing the Fabric option in the main Microstructure tab item in
the Digimat tree. The user has the choice between three families of fabrics (see Figure V.5.2)
Figure V.5.2: Definition of a fabric RVE.

V.5.2. Parameters 561
• Woven which give access to four possibilities

– 2D
– 2.5D
– 3D woven interlock
– 3D woven orthogonal
• Braided
• Non crimp.
For all fabric microstructures, a matrix and yarn phases must be defined. If already existing, it is possible
to assign the phases to the fabric microstructure. If no relevant phase exist yet, then the Definition tab of
Microstructure allows to create matrix and yarn phases on-the-fly via the dedicated button "Add matrix phase"
or "Create yarn phase". Creating new phases will populate the Digimat tree under the Microstructure item.
2D woven
The 2D woven corresponds to the classical in plane woven morphology. The woven weave can be described
through different parameters (cf. Figure V.5.3)
Figure V.5.3: Definition of a fabric RVE.
• the desired weave pattern to be applied to the microstructure,

• the yarn count which correspond to the number of yarns per centimer,
• the yarn spacing ratio which is the ratio between the height of a resin zone introduced between the yarn
and the yarn height(cf. V.5.4). The main goal of this numerical parameter is to allow an efficient
conforming meshing. The yarn space ratio is also available in Digimat-MF for comparison.
• the yarn crimp which describes the yarn tortuosity. The higher the yarn crimp, the higher the warp yarn
tortuosity and the lower the weft yarn tortuosity. The same tortuosity is applied to the warp and weft
yarn for the default value of 0.5 as illustrated on the figure V.5.5.
Different material properties can be assigned for yarns having the same direction through the activation of the
option Enable the use of different yarns in a single direction.
Figure V.5.4: Yarn spacing ratio.
Figure V.5.5: Yarn crimp.
2.5D woven
When the 2.5D woven option is chosen, the user can specify the number of layers (see Figure V.5.6) to
associate to the woven. All other options of the 2D woven are available and have the same usage except that
the option to define different material properties for yarn of the same direction is not available. The default
value of the layers number is 1 which corresponds to a classical 2D woven. When the user specifies another
value, the software generates the 2.5D woven such that it corresponds to the number of layers for weft yarns.
For warp yarns, the number of layers is always equal to 1. That’s why the woven is called 2.5D woven in this
case.
3D woven
In the case of 3D woven, the 3D weave pattern in computed automatically based on high level parameters.
This workflow aims at simplifying the definition of the 3D woven morphology to the user. The supported 3D
woven types are : interlock and orthogonal. The morphology as well as the corresponding control parameters of
interlock and orthogonal 3D woven are explained respectively in Figure V.5.7 and V.5.8. For 3D interlock, a
"Custom" weave pattern allows full flexibility in the definition of the weave pattern (at the cost of an increased
complexity), see V.5.2. The main parameters to be defined by the user are the following:
• Number of warp/weft yarns
• Number of layers
• Weave depth : The total number of layers entwined by a given warp yarn (interlock fabric) or a linker
yarn (orthogonal fabric)
• Weave step : The number of layers entwined by a yarn when it goes one step further. In the case of
orthogonal fabrics, irregular weave step can be defined through a vector. The corresponding settings as
well as the resulting configuration can be seen in figure V.5.9.
• Weave pattern : Automated definition of standard weave patterns : diagonal, plain, satin and twill
(please refer to figure V.5.10)
Figure V.5.6: Definition of a 2.5D woven microstructure.
Figure V.5.7: 3D interlock woven.
When generating a 3D fabric, the following rules of good practice should be respected
• Number of warp/weft yarns should be strictly greater than 1
• Number of layers should be strictly greater than 2 for 3D orthogonal wovens
• Weave step should be strictly greater than 0 and less than or equal to the number of layers
• Number of warp and weft yarns should be an even number when using 3D orthogonal wovens
• Weave step should be a divisor of the weave depth
• Weave step should be strictly greater than 0 and less than or equal to the weave depth
Figure V.5.8: 3D orthogonal woven.
Figure V.5.9: 3D orthogonal woven, irregular weave step of (2,1,2).
• Weave depth should be less or equal to the number of layers

• When defining a plain weave pattern, weave step should be equal to weave depth
• When defining a plain weave pattern, weave step should be equal to weave depth
• Number of layers should be less than or equal to the number of warp or weft yarns
• For orthogonal fabrics, number of layers should be strictly greater than 2
• For orthogonal fabrics, the sum of the weave steps vector should be a divisor of the number of layers
• For interlock fabrics, weave step should be a divisor of the number of layers
• For interlock fabrics, weave depth should be strictly greater than 1 and less than the number of layers
• For interlock fabrics, weave step should be strictly greater than 0 and less than or equal to the weave
depth
• For interlock fabrics, weave depth should be less or equal to the number of layers
• For interlock fabrics, weave step should be a divisor of the weave depth
Figure V.5.10: Weave patterns.
3D interlock custom The definition of a custom 3D weave pattern is performed by "warp zone". A warp
zone is the set of warp yarns belonging to the same XZ plane (see Figure V.5.7 for axis system definition).
In each warp zone (the current warp zone can be selected with the spinner control at the top of the "3D
weave pattern" box), the number, type and spacing of warp yarn can differ. The shape of each warp yarn of
the selected warp zone can be defined either in the interactive graphical editor (by drag and drop) or in the
code editor (see for instance Figure V.5.11, which contains 5 warp zones). The weave pattern can be fully
customized by enabling the option Enable the use different yarns in a single direction as illustrated on
figure V.5.12.
Braided
The user can define the braiding angle which should be expressed in degrees and should be between 1 and 89
degrees (see Figure V.5.13). The user may insert inlays reinforcement in the braided. A different yarn type
can be associated to the inlay yarn. The weave pattern for a braided microstructure is defined in the same
way as in the case of a 2D woven. The results for a braided microstructure are expressed in the basis for which
the first axis corresponds to the bisectrix of the braided yarns defined at plus or minus the braiding angle.
Selection of the microstructure for woven and braided

The following parameters are required to completely define an advanced woven fabric.
• Warp and weft yarn: select the yarn phase used in the warp and weft directions of the fabric.
• Warp and weft yarn count: these parameters define how dense the fabric is. An upper bound exists
(corresponding to a fabric with the yarns of the same direction touching one another). This bound
depends on the width of the yarn.
• Weave pattern: the weave pattern of the fabric can be adjusted graphically by clicking in cells of the
table. Right-clicking anywhere in the table shows a context menu that allows adding extra warp or weft
yarn, or removing yarns.
Validating the 2D woven, 2.5D woven or braided respectively, fabric definition will trigger the computation of
the fabric geometry, which is displayed in the second tab (see Figure V.5.14, V.5.15 and V.5.16 respectively).
Along with the visualization, some other results are displayed:
• Unit cell size
• Areal density
• Porosity: this is the amount of matrix material in between yarns
• Fiber volume fraction: overall volume fraction of fibers in the resulting RVE (i.e., accounting for matrix
inside the yarns and matrix in between the yarns)
Figure V.5.11: Definition of 3D interlock custom weave pattern.
Non crimp
The non crimp fabric have different requirements. They are made of a matrix, a stitching yarn and of UD
yarns. The stitching yarn and UD yarn definition is the same as for weft and warp yarns. The microstructure
definition consists in the definition of a stacking and of the stitching loop (see Figure V.5.17). The stacking
definition requires to define the number of plies, the UD yarn used in each plies and their orientation. The
stitching loop requires the
• choice of a pattern, three options are available
– Tricot using the pattern notation 1 : 0/1 : 2,
– Tricot warp using the pattern notation 1 : 0/1 : 2/2 : 1,
– Custom allowing the use of any pattern notation,
• Spacing X,
• Spacing Y which is typically equal to the yarn width,
• Stitching cracks aspect ratio which define the ratio between the two dimension in the plane of the matrix
diamond shape around the stitching yarn ,
• Ratio between diamond width and stitching yarn width which links one dimension of the matrix diamong
shape and the stitching yarn,
• Option to sink the stitching yarn.
If this option is checked, the stichting yarn is sinked into the UD yarn The resulting non crimp fabric RVE
contains UD yarns, the stitching yarn and resin rich pocket around the stitching yarns in the out-of-plane
direction as shown on figure Figure V.5.18.
Figure V.5.12: Usage of different yarn in a single direction for 3D interlock custom weave pattern.
Figure V.5.13: Definition of a braided microstructure.
Figure V.5.14: Visualization of a 2D woven microstructure.

Figure V.5.15: Visualization of a 2.5D woven microstructure.

Figure V.5.16: Visualization of a braided microstructure.

Figure V.5.17: Definition of a non crimp fabrics

Figure V.5.18: Resulting mesh of a non crimp fabric with the UD yarn at 0 degree in green, the UD yarn at 90 degree
in blue, the stitching yarn in red and the resin rich pocket in yellow
Lattice microstructures
Once the Lattice type is selected via the Definition tab, the Parameters tab gives access to two groups of
parameters: the infill parameters and the filament cross-section shape. The infill parameters allow to select
Figure V.5.19: Definition of the lattice infill parameters.
the infill pattern as well as the infill angle and percentage when relevant.
The possible infill patterns are:
• Aligned
• Sparse
• Double dense sparse
• Hexagonal
• Custom 2D
• Custom 3D
In addition when relevant, infill angle and infill percentage (between 0 and 1) may be defined to meet the
desired density.
Figure V.5.20: Example of various lattice infill possibilities (From left to right and top to bottom: aligned, sparse,
double dense sparse, hexagonal and custom 3D.
Once the infill parameters are defined, the filament cross-section must be defined, similarly to the procedure
described in Subsection IV.7.2 with the addition of the total filament width in order to determine the actual
RVE size in Digimat-FE . One special case concerns the custom 3D infill which requires only to define a diameter
value for the filament cross-section, as it supports only cylindrical type of filaments. Other parameters to be
defined are RVE parameters which consists in the number of unit cell repeat in the X-, Y- and Z-direction.
Failure can be assigned to the lattice in two differents ways. Both approach can be combined. The first one is
to assign a failure criteria to the matrix, the second one is to define interface parameters. Both the inter-layer
and intralayer interface behavior can be defined. The various allowed behavior are
• Perfectly bonded
• With debonding (contact)
• With debonding (cohesive elements)
By default, interface are pefectly bonded.
The custom 2D and 3D cases require further definition of junctions and beams. Junctions describe coordinates
in the 3D space of the RVE while beams represent actual struts connecting two junctions together. The
junctions and beams are defined in a third tab "Lattice parameters" through the dedicated tables. While
tables can be filled in manually with coordinates of junctions and correspondance for beams, some options
offer more efficiency:
• junctions can be created directly through the definition of an array of the 3D space
• beams can be created dynamically by clicking consecutively while holding the Crtl key on two junctions
Once the lattice microstructure has been defined, it is then possible to describe the several phases present
inside the lattice microstructure by adding phases to the microstructure. These can be:
• Required: matrix phase
• Optional: inclusion phase
• Optional: void phase
If the lattice microstructure contains several phases, the homogenized response of the multi-phase material
inside the lattice microstructure will be precomputed when submitting the FEA job in the Solution step.
Figure V.5.21: Creating an array of junctions to facilitate the creatio of a custom 3D infill.
Figure V.5.22: Building a custom 3D infill beam by beam through selection of junctions.
Foam microstructures
Two types of foams can be generated in Digimat-FE (see Figure V.5.23):

• Open-cell foam: this type refers to cellular solids where the pores are interconnected and the solid phase
is distributed over only struts/edges
• Closed-cell foam: this type refers to cellular solids where pores are closed and isolated i.e., the cells are
enclosed
Figure V.5.23: Definition tab for foam microstructures.
Open-cell foams
After selecting Open cells type in Definition tab, the Parameters tab allows to choose between three foam
topologies (see Figure V.5.24):
• Random: the generation of random foams in Digimat-FE is based on Voronoi algorithm. The foam is
modeled as interconnected edges of Voronoi cells. An illustration of the model (with 100 cells) is shown
in Figure V.5.25.
• Kelvin: this foam type refers to regular foams having tetrakaidecahedral cells that uniformly partition
space. The cells of this model have eight hexagonal and six square faces (see Figure V.5.26). An
illustration of the model (with 60 cells) is shown in Figure V.5.27.
• Custom: The custom 3D case allows to create any other shape for the unit cell based on the definition of
junctions and beams. Junctions describe coordinates in the 3D space of the RVE while beams represent
actual struts connecting two junctions together. The junctions and beams are defined in a third tab
Lattice parameters (see Figure V.5.29). An illustration of a custom foam is shown in Figure V.5.30.
Figure V.5.24: Parameters tab for the open cell foam type.
Figure V.5.25: An example of a generated random open cell foam based on Voronoi tessellation. The model shown
has 100 cells.
Figure V.5.26: A tetrakaidecahedral unit cell for the Kelvin foam model.
Figure V.5.27: Kelvin open cell foam generated with the parameters shown in Figure V.5.28.
The parameters needed for the definition of open-cell foams are :

• Number of cells: for random foams, this refers to the total number of cells. For Kelvin foams, the user
needs to specify the number of cells in each direction (see Figure V.5.28 and Figure V.5.27).
• Cell size: for random foams, this parameter sets the median value.
• Relative density or Strut’s diameter: the relative density defines the density of the foam devided by
the density of the solid from which it is made. If the relative density is user defined then the strut’s
diameter will be set to fit the required relative density. Conversely, if the diameter is set by the user,
then the relative density will be an outcome. For custom foams, only the strut’s diameter can be user
defined.
• Lattice parameters: this tab is specific to custom foams. The junctions and beams for a unit cell are
defined through the dedicated tables (see Figure V.5.29). While tables can be filled in manually with
coordinates of junctions and correspondance for beams, some options offer more efficiency:
– junctions can be created directly through the definition of an array of the 3D space
– beams can be created dynamically by clicking consecutively while holding the Crtl key on two
junctions
Once the unit cell is defined, the generated periodic cell could be repeated in any direction as many
times by clicking on appropriate associated mirror (see Figure V.5.30) .
Figure V.5.28: Parameters tab for the open-cell Kelvin foams.

Figure V.5.29: Lattice parameters tab for the definition of custom open-cell foam.
Figure V.5.30: From a custom unit cell (cf.Figure V.5.29), a larger RVE can be generated by repeating periodically the
cell in the different directions using mirror option.
Closed-cell foams
After selecting Closed cells type in Definition tab, the Parameters tab allows to choose between two foam
topologies:
• Random: random closed-cell foams are generated in Digimat-FE by Voronoi tessellation. The foam is
modeled as faces (or walls) of polyhedral Voronoi cells. An illustration of the model (with 200 cells) is
shown in Figure V.5.31.
Figure V.5.31: An example of a generated random closed cell foam based on Voronoi tessellation. The model shown
has 200 cells.
• Kelvin: this foam type refers to regular foams having identical tetrakaidecahedral cells that uniformly
partition space. Since the tetrakaidecahedral unit cell has to be repeated in a body-centred cubic to
fill space, a modified unit cell is generated by Digimat-FE allowing to fill space when repeated in a
simple cubic lattice. An illustration of the Tetrakidecahedral cell, the unit cell and the foam model are
respectively shown in Figure V.5.32 and Figure V.5.33.
The parameters needed for the definition of closed-cell foams are quite similar to the ones for open cell foams
except strut’s diameter that should be read "wall thickness" (see Figure V.5.34).
Figure V.5.32: Tetrakaidecahedral cell in the left and unit cell for the Kelvin closed-cell foam model in the right.
Figure V.5.33: Kelvin closed cell foam generated with the parameters shown in Figure V.5.34.
Figure V.5.34: Parameters tab for the closed-cell Kelvin foams.

Metal microstructures
Two types of metals can be generated in Digimat-FE:

• Polycrystal: this type refers to crystalline aggregates.
• Cemented metals: this type refers to solids where grains are embedded in a binder phase.
Polycrystal
The generation of polycrystals in Digimat-FE is based on the Voronoi algorithm. This type of microstructure
is limited to monophase polycrystal.
Cemented metals
The generation of cemented metals in Digimat-FE is also based on the Voronoi algorithm when using grain
phase while random placement is used with other type of inclusions.
The generation of cemented metals is limited to one grain phase and one matrix phase when using phase of
type grain. Any other combination of phases and matrix is allowed.
Geometric microstructures
This type of microstructure allow to generate a geometry from an .stl file describing the inclusion phase. When
selected Digimat-FE- automatically create a matrix and an inclusion phase.
The inclusion phase allow the loading of an .stl file which is read and processed to determine the bounding
box. The bounding box will be considered as the base RVE. The inclusion material is assigned to the geometry
detected in the .stl file. The matrix material is assigned to remaining part of the RVE. The scale factor allow
Figure V.5.35: Definition of an inclusion in the case of the Geometric microstructure
to scale the geometry. Custom rotation allow to change the three angles of the successive rotations. Custom
space offset allow to adapt the offset of the geometry.
The Geometric microstructure can be used with all solvers. Pay attention that only periodic geometry are
supported with the FFT solver. The answer may be approximate if your geometry is not periodic.
The Geometric microstructure can be used with the non-conforming voxel and with the mesh-cutting tetra
mesh.
Additional phases cannot be added to the Geometric microstructure. The inclusion phase should have a
material (ie not void). The Geometric microstructure is not supported in multi-layer.
V.5.3. Phase type 587
V.5.3 Phase type
The first tab accessed by the user when defining a new phase it the Type tab. This tab allows the specification
of the type of phase to be defined, as well as the attribution of a material to this phase.
The different available fields are described hereafter.
• Phase name: this text field defines the phase name. As phases are identified by their names, each
phase must have a different name, even if it belongs to another microstructure.
• Phase type: this bullet menu defines which type of phase is being defined. The phase parameters to
define vary with the phase type. Three phase types are supported in Digimat:
– Matrix: if this option is selected as the phase type, the only parameter to define is then the
corresponding phase material.
– Inclusion: if this option is selected as the phase type, the user gets access to the Parameters tab
through which all the inclusion definition options can be defined.
– Void : very similar to Inclusion phase, the only difference is that it is not necessary to specify a
phase material.
– Continuous fiber : the main difference with a regular inclusion is that only two shapes are allowed
∗ cylinder for which only a diameter is necessary to define the inclusion shape,
∗ curved cylinder for which a diameter and two kappa parameters are necessary to define the
inclusion shape.
The aspect ratio is assumed to be infinite for both.
– Yarn: to be used in a woven microstructure. Although the yarn consists of two materials (matrix
and fibers), the material assignment for yarn is simplified to a single material assignment for the
fiber material. The matrix material inside the yarn is automatically identified from the main matrix
phase. The material model of the yarn in the final FEA model is thus a combination of the matrix
and fiber material models. Supported material models are linear elasticity and elastoplasticity.
Digimat-FE precomputes the yarn homogeneous behavior when creating the input deck in the
Solution tab.
– Strand : to be used to define a Discontinuous Fiber Composite (DFC) material. Following the
selection of this type of phase, a specific workflow for DFC will be available in the RVE tab, where
geometry and mesh generation are combined in a voxel based process. Other supported phases with
Strand are Matrix and Void. Strand phase can be defined as the only phase of the microstructure,
hence having a one hunder percent volume fraction.
– Binder : this phase is equivalent to a matrix phase for a cemented metal microstructure.
– Grain: to be used to define a metal microstructure. The selection of this type of phase gives access
to the Voronoi algorithm to generate polycrystalline RVE. This phase type is only available with
Polyrcrystal and Cemented metal microstructures.
– Prismatic grain: to be used in cemented metal microstructure. This phase corresponds to a
inclusion with prismatic shape.
– Core-rim: to be defined in cemented metal microstructure. The core-rim consists of a spherical
core surrounded by a spherical outer-rim and eventually by a spherical inner-rim (see section V.5.6
for further details). The orientation of the core-rim is assumed random 3D.
• Inter-phase: this option is only available with Inclusion, Void and Continuous fiber phase types. It
allows the definition of an inter-phase layer (i.e., coating) around the inclusions and will give access to
the Inter-phase tab.
• Phase material : the phase material can be selected through this drop-down menu. All previously
validated materials are available for selection and a same material can be used more than once in
different phases.
V.5.4 Phase Parameters
This tab is only available for the Inclusion and Void phase types. It enables the definition of the parameters
related to this phase type:
• The Phase fraction: this text field allows the definition of the volume fraction or the mass fraction of
the phase, after selection of one or the other fraction type.
• The Phase definition: there are several ways to define a phase:

– by selecting the unit cell options. In this case the minimum number of inclusions required to
define a representative volume element is used. The inclusion positions are computed such that
the most compact configuration is reproduced. This option is only available when the random fiber
perturbation algorithm is chosen in the geometry. It is only available for continuous fibers or for
inclusions with cylinder and sphero-cylinder shape of inclusions.
– by specifying its minimum Number of inclusions, in this case, the size of the inclusions is auto-
matically computed by Digimat; only in the case of a periodic geometry and no interpenetration
of inclusions or under the constraint of a minimum relative inclusion volume of 1 is this number
verified;
– by defining it through the Inclusion size and aspect ratio specification, in this case, the size and
aspect ratio of the inclusions need to be specified in the Shape parameter and Size sections;
– by defining it through the Inclusion size and diameter specification, in this case, the size and
diameter of the inclusions need to be specified in the Shape parameter and Size sections.
– by defining its Inclusion size, diameter and number of inclusions. This case is only available
with curved sphero-cylinder inclusions. The RVE size is enforced to be user defined. The volume
fraction is an output. This can be view as a way to simulate the process.
• The Shape parameters: this section focuses on the definition of the inclusion shape.
– Inclusion shape: through a drop-down menu, the user can select a predefined inclusion shape or
load one from a STEP geometry file. The built-in inclusion shapes are shown in Table V.5.1 here
below. If the geometry is loaded from the STEP file, certain restrictions apply:
∗ only one entity should be contained in the STEP file;
∗ the phase has to be defined by the Number of inclusions, the size of the inclusion being
fixed by the geometry contained in the STEP file; accordingly the size of the volume element
will need to be adjusted to achieve representativeness.
– Depending on the inclusion shape, certain parameters need to be specified to fully define their
geometry.
∗ Inclusion shapes presenting symmetry of revolution should be defined either via their Aspect
ratio or their Diameter.
· Aspect ratio: this shape parameter defines the ratio between the length and the diameter
of an inclusion presenting symmetry of revolution, the length being measured along the
symmetry axis and the diameter in the orthogonal midplane. Spherical inclusions have an
aspect ratio of one while fibers and platelets will have aspect ratios larger and smaller than
one respectively.
· Diameter : this parameter can be used to define the shape of inclusions. It corresponds
to the diameter of the inclusion in the case of inclusions showing symmetry of revolution,
while for the prism inclusion it corresponds to length b and it is not available for icosahedra.
Note: the user is advised to use sphero-cylindrical inclusions rather than ellipsoidal ones
to model fibers, in order to avoid problems when importing the geometry files in a FE
package. Furthermore, the generation algorithm is much faster with spherical, cylindrical
and sphero-cylindrical inclusions than with other inclusion types.
V.5.4. Phase Parameters 589
Figure V.5.36: Illustration of inclusions having different aspect ratios (Lielens, 1999)
∗ Prism inclusions: two aspect ratios are required. These are defined in Figure V.5.37.
∗ Icosahedra: they have fixed proportions; there is no aspect ratio parameter for this inclusion
shape, see Figure V.5.37.
∗ 1D inclusions (straight and curved beams): the aspect ratio or diameter is necessary to compute
the equivalent volume of the inclusion. Coatings are not supported with these inclusion shapes.
∗ Curved beams: one more parameter is used, the tortuosity. Acceptable values are between 0
(will give a straight beam) and 10. Curved inclusions are swept geometries, where the sweep
path is a random Bezier curve and the sweep section a circle. The Bezier curve that is used as
sweep path has 11 control points. The first control point is always fixed, while the 10 remaining
control points are generated incrementally, each one being placed at a random distance and
orientation from the previous one. The tortuosity factor governs the maximum acceptable
change in orientation from one control point to the next. Some hints and limitations when
using curved inclusion shapes:
· Coatings are not supported with curved inclusions. Cohesive inter-phases are not supported
with curved inclusions. Curved inclusions are only meaningful for slender inclusions, i.e.,
aspect ratio larger than 25. The tortuosity factor should be considered relative to the
aspect ratio: if the aspect ratio is small (around 20. . . 25), a value of 10 for the tortuosity
factor will be accepted by Digimat, but is most probably not physically reasonable. On
the other hand, with slender inclusions (for example, carbon nanotubes, with AR around
100), a value of 8. . . 10 for the tortuosity factor is very reasonable from a physical point
of view.
∗ Beam inclusions (straight and curved): these inclusion shapes can be used to model very slen-
der fibers. Because the geometry is much simpler than for 3D inclusions, RVE generation is
much faster when using beam elements. For mechanical analyses, they will be exported to
Abaqus/CAE as beam elements and will be linked to the matrix elements using embedded
elements constraint (please refer to the Abaqus Analysis User Manual for more detailed in-
formation about the element embedding technique). For electrical and thermal analyses, it is
not possible to use the element embedding technique in Abaqus/CAE. However, it can still
be interesting to use beam inclusions when modeling percolation threshold. In that case, the
results obtained with regular 3D inclusions and with beam inclusions are the same, but the
CPU time is much lower if beam inclusions are used.
∗ Curve sphero-cylinders or curve cylinders for continuous fibers : two more parameters are
available Kappa 1 and Kappa 2 see Figure V.5.38. Their values typically ranges between 0
and 100. In the algorithm used with curvy fibers, fibers are created as aggregate of spheres
which are drawn randomly but the orientation of the vector between two spheres is controlled
by Kappa1 and Kappa2. Kappa1 controls the reliability to the main fiber orientation. This
means that it controls that the orientation of the vector between two spheres is close to the
prescribed fiber orientation. The higher the value, the higher the probability to have all the
orientation vectors equal to the prescribed fiber orientation hence higher the probability to
have straight fibers. Kappa2 controls the reliability to the last orientation. This means that
it controls that two consecutive vectors have the same orientation. The higher the value, the
higher the probability that two consecutive vectors have the same orientation hence higher the
probability to have purely “bended” fibers. The lower the value of both Kappa1 and Kappa2,
the lower the probability to respect the prescribed orientation tensor.
Figure V.5.37: Parameter definitions for prism and icosahedron inclusion shape.
Figure V.5.38: Influence of Kappa1 and Kappa2 for orientation 1 − 0 − 0. Left : Kappa1 = 100 and Kappa2 = 0.
Center : Kappa1=Kappa2=10. Right : Kappa1 = 0 and Kappa2 = 100.
• The Size: this section is only available if the inclusion phase is specified by size. Three options are
available:
– Fixed size: this text field defines the constant, absolute, size of the inclusions. Care must be taken
to specify a value that is consistent with the specified RVE size.
– Random: this option allows the generation of inclusions whose size is uniformly distributed between
a lower and an upper bounds.
– Distribution: this option allows to specify a normal, user-defined, uniform, log-normal or Weibull
size distribution. By browsing to the file containing a given size distribution, the user can define
an inclusion phase experimental size measurements for instance. The desired distribution must be
defined as a histogram, i.e., the relative number of inclusions belonging to a size class, specified
by a lower and an upper bound. This relative number can also be interpreted as the probability
of having a fiber whose size belongs to that class. There is no limitation as to the number of
classes but the total number of inclusions, having enough inclusions in each class being necessary
to achieve representativeness.
The format of the text file is as follows:

lowerBound - upperBound probability
Obviously, the sum of each class’ probabilities will total 1.
– Size lower bound : this option allows to specify a lower bound for the phase size when using a
normal, log-normal or Weibull size distribution (e.g., in order to avoid subsequent meshing issues).
– Size upper bound : this option allows to specify a upper bound for the phase size when using a
normal, log-normal or Weibull size distribution (e.g., in order to avoid the placement of too large
inclusions, leading to premature microstructure generation failure).
– Allow size reduction: checking this box will allow size reduction when working with fixed inclusion
size and no interpenetration of inclusions. It can prove to be useful to reach high volume fractions.
If turned on, the fixed inclusion size will be scaled by the Size reduction factor if no satisfying
position has been found after having reached the maximum number of inclusion placements and
the generation process goes on with the reduced inclusion size.
∗ Max. number of size reductions: this text field defines the maximum number of size
reductions before the generation process is stopped.
∗ Size reduction factor : this text field defines the size reduction scaling factor.
The behavior of this option is slightly different depending on how the inclusion phase is defined.
For inclusion phases defined “By number” and “By size and aspect ratio”, the inclusion size will be
reduced and the aspect ratio will remain constant. Hence, the inclusion diameter will be reduced
as well. For inclusion phases defined “By size and diameter”, the inclusion size will be reduced and
the diameter will remain constant. Hence, the aspect ratio will be reduced as well.
• The Orientation: there are several ways to specify the orientation of the inclusions. The orientation
of the inclusions is specified with respect to their direction unit vector. For symmetrical inclusions, this
vector is aligned with the symmetry axis, while for the prism inclusions; it corresponds to the extrusion
direction. Three possibilities are available to define the inclusion orientations:
– Fixed : choosing this option will impose a constant and identical orientation to all inclusions in the
volume element. The orientation vector is defined by the two spherical angles Theta and Phi , see
the Figure below. Inclusions aligned along the 1-axis will have (Theta, Phi) = (90°,0°) as spherical
angles. Units are degrees.
Note: for inclusions without symmetry of revolution, i.e., prisms and icosahedra, a third angle, the
spin of the p-vector, is necessary in order to fully define the orientation. This angle is taken equal
to zero when fixed orientation is selected.
– Random: choosing Random 2D or Random 3D allows to specify random orientations in the

(1,2)-plane or in space. These options are equivalent to orientation tensors a = diag( 1/2 , 1/2, 0)
and a = diag(1/3,1/3,1/3).
Figure V.5.39: Definition of the spherical angles Theta and Phi.
– Tensor : specifying the orientation through an orientation tensor is equivalent to define a distri-
bution of orientation in the volume element. The orientation tensor is the second order moment
of the orientation distribution function (ODF Ψ(p)), which gives the probability of having a fiber
oriented along a given direction.
Z
aij = pi pj Ψ(p)dp (V.5.1)
The orientation tensor is symmetric and, thus, requires 6 independent components to be fully
defined. It has to verify certain statistic rules which are summarized here below.
∗ Its trace (T (a)) is equal to 1. If this property is not verified but the trace is in the range
[1-tol, 1+tol], Digimat will issue a warning and normalize the diagonal terms such that the
trace equals 1.
 
a11
a 12 a13
 T (a) a
a0 =  (V.5.2)

 a12 T (a) a23 
22 
a33
a13 a23 T (a)
If the trace is outside the range [1-tol, 1+tol], Digimat issues an ERROR message.
The tolerance is set to 10-2 .
∗ The diagonal components belong to [0,1]. If any of them lies outside this range, it will be
rounded to 0 or 1 provided it belongs to [-0.001,0] or [1,1.001], otherwise an ERROR message
is issued.
∗ The absolute value of the off diagonal components is less than or equal to 0.5. An ERROR
message will be issued if this property is not verified.
• The Texture: if a polycrystalline microstructure is used in combination with a crystal plasticity material
model, crystallographic texture can be considered: either a random 3D texture or a user-defined texture.
A single generic ASCII format (.txt) is supported. The input file should provide at least 3 columns,
corresponding to the 3 Euler angles (Bunge convention) and eventually a fourth column corresponding
to the weight of each orientation. When an input file is provided, the texture is discretized using one of
the following discretization technique:
– Monte-Carlo lottery,
– STAT: statistical discretization developed by Toth and Van Houtte (1992),
– Hybrid-IA: integral approximation approach developed by Eisenlohr and Roters (2008),
Note: orientation tensors can only be defined for axisymmetric inclusion shapes.
Shape Illustration
Ellipsoid
Sphero-cylinder
Platelet
Cylinder
Prism
Icosahedron
Curved beam
Straight beam
Table V.5.1: Available predefined inclusion shapes.

V.5.5. Advanced parameters 595
V.5.5 Advanced parameters
This tab is only accessible for the Inclusion, Void and Continuous fiber phase types or with metal mi-
crostructures. It enables the definition of advanced parameters allowing a finer control of the generated
microstructure:
• Clustering: this option allows to alter the default spatial positioning of inclusions (uniform random
distribution). When clustering is used, the inclusions are gathered around the center of the cluster. It
is possible to define as many clusters as needed inside one phase. Clusters can be added or deleted
by using the context menu that pops up when right-clicking on the cluster list. For each cluster, the
following parameters can be modified:
– Relative fraction: this parameter defines the relative fraction of the phase to be placed in the
current cluster. The sum of relative fractions of all clusters in one phase must be smaller or equal
to one. If it is smaller than 1, the remaining inclusions will be placed outside any cluster, using the
default uniform random spatial distribution.
– Aspect ratio: this parameter controls the shape of the clusters. It can either be set to the phase
aspect ratio (default) or to a custom value. For instance, a value of 1 allows to create clusters
with constant fiber orientation and without consecutive fibers. The difference between the default
value and the value of 1 is illustrated on the two figures below, for a fiber aspect ratio of 50 and
a relative phase fraction in the cluster of 0.8: with a cluster aspect ratio corresponding to the
fiber aspect ratio, there are approximately the same number of fibers in the three directions (see
Figure V.5.40); with a value of 1, there is only one fiber in the fiber direction and several in both
transverse directions (see Figure V.5.41).
– Cluster orientation: this parameter controls the orientation of the cluster (when the aspect ratio
is different than 1). It can either be deduced from the phase orientation (default) or set to a custom
constant orientation. When the phase orientation is defined as random or by means of a tensor,
the cluster orientation deduced from the phase orientation corresponds to the first eigenvector of
the orientation tensor.
– Cluster position: by default, the position of the cluster is generated randomly. However, it is
possible to manually specify a position.
– Fiber orientation type: inside one cluster, the inclusions can be forced to a constant orientation
or not. Constant orientation allows to reach higher packing densities in the cluster.
– Fiber orientation: this option controls the orientation of the inclusions inside a cluster. It is only
accessible when Constant orientation has been selected for Fiber orientation type. It can either
be deduced from the phase orientation (default) or set to a custom constant orientation. When
the phase orientation is defined as random or by means of a tensor, the fiber orientation deduced
from the phase orientation corresponds to the first eigenvector of the orientation tensor. When a
custom orientation is specified, it is relative to the global axes system (and NOT to the cluster
axes system).
When clustering is used and the total relative volume of all clusters is smaller than 1 (i.e., when the
phase also has inclusions not part of any cluster), the clusters are generated first (all at the same time),
and the remaining inclusions are placed randomly once all clusters have been completely generated. If a
finer control of the generation sequence of the different clusters is needed, it is possible to achieve that
by defining the different clusters as different inclusion phases.
• Custom inclusion positions / orientations: this option allows to manually define the positions and/or
orientations of some or all inclusions of the selected phase. As many positions and/or orientations as
desired can be specified in the tables. Orientations are usually defined by the two angles theta and
phi, except for inclusion imported from CAD file. Those inclusions generally don’t have symmetry of
revolution, therefore a third angle is available (the rotation around the Z-axis). During the generation
process, Digimat-FE will start using the provided positions and orientations (instead of randomly gen-
erated positions and orientations). If both positions and orientations are specified, they are always used
in association (i.e. the position at index i is associated to the orientation at index i). This has several
implications:
Figure V.5.40: Example of cluster with aspect ratio corresponding to the phase aspect ratio
– if the number of positions and/or orientations provided is smaller than the number of inclusions,
the remaining inclusions will be placed randomly;
– for the inclusions that are using the user-defined positions and/or orientations, the same checks
are performed as for randomly placed inclusion. That means that a user-defined inclusion can
be discarded if it appears that it violates some of the generation constraints (for example, it
interpenetrates with another inclusion, it does not respect the minimum relative volume or minimum
relative distance constraint, ...). That behavior can be avoided by checking on the option Ignore
phase volume/mass fraction.
In case of multilayer RVEs, it should be noted that the Z coordinates provided in that table will be
interpreted as relative to the current layer (and NOT relative to the global RVE).
The following options allow controling how the specified positions are used:
– Ignore phase volume/mass fraction: all specified positions and/or orientations will be used,
even if the phase volume/mass fraction goes above the specified value.
– Number of specified positions/orientations to use: don’t use all the specified positions and/or
orientations, but only the specified number
– Disable all geometrical checks:all specified positions and/or orientations will be used, even if
they violate the constraints specified on the RVE tab. This option should be used with great care
as it can lead to unphysical situations.
V.5.5. Advanced parameters 597
Figure V.5.41: Example of cluster with aspect ratio equal to one
– Custom position usage: determines whether the specified positions are used sequentially or
randomly during the RVE generation.
• Contact with matrix

– Do not tie fiber tips to matrix: this option is only available for cylindrical inclusions when using
the Digimat-FE mesher (and not using the shared nodes option). It only affects the FEA input
deck generated by Digimat-FE , not the geometry. It allows to have only the cylindrical face of
the inclusion tied to the matrix. The two planar faces (inclusion tips) are not tied to the matrix
when this option is checked on. This option can for instance be useful to model the behavior of
glass fiber in a polymer matrix: in that case, the glass fibers typically don’t have any coating on
the tips, making those tips a location with very weak adherence to the matrix.
• Maximum number of redraw from the distribution: this option controls the maximum number of
redraw from the size distribution. When the current inclusion placement attempt failed, a new inclusion
is drawn and a new placement attempt is performed. The RVE generation prematurely terminates after
reaching the maximum number of redraw. Higher the number of redraw, higher the chance to reach
high volume fraction.
• Intercept distribution: the intercept length distribution can be provided for cemented metal microstruc-
tures. Such distribution is only used for post-processing purpose, for comparison with the final distribu-
tion but is not used as a target to reach.
• Experimental resolution: the size below which the binder intercept length are discarded for the intercept
length post-processing.
• Contiguity: the contiguity (i.e., the percentage of grain-grain boundaries) can be specified for grain
phase. Its maximum value is the grain volume fraction.
In the case of thermal or electrical analyses, percolation parameters are also available in the Advanced
parameters tab. They enable local percolation modeling (see Section V.10.5).
V.5.6. Rims 599
V.5.6 Rims
The rim tab is only accessible if a core-rim has been defined in the Type tab. It has several fields that allow
namely the usage of the inner-rim and the definition of the different rim layers parameters, see Figure V.5.42.
• Rim name: this text field defines the name of the inner/outer rim. It uniquely identifies it and the
related output files. The default name is Inner-rim or Outer-rim.
• Material : this drop-down menu allows the selection of the rim material. Available materials in the list
are the previously validated materials.
• Eccentricity: the core and the rims are concentric by default. An eccentricity can be defined to translate
the center of the rim with respect to the center of the core in the x direction. The eccentricity can
be negative and positive. The eccentricity is defined as the ratio of the prescribed displacement of the
center over the the radius of the core. The center of the inner-rim can be outside the core while the
inner-rim and the core should be strictly inside the outer-rim.
• Rim fraction: the importance of the rim with respect to the other phases of the volume element can
be defined via one of the two following options:
– Volume fraction: this text field defines the volume fraction of the rim in the volume element.
– Relative diameter : this text field defines the relative of the rim with respect to the core diameter.
Figure V.5.42: Rim parameter tab

V.5.7 Inter-phase
The inter-phase tab is only accessible if inter-phase has been activated in the Type tab. It has several fields
that allow the definition of the coating layer parameters.
• Inter-phase name: this text field defines the name of the inter-phase. It uniquely identifies it and
the related output files. The default name is CoatingN, where N is an incremental number that is
automatically generated by the code. Each inter-phase must have a different name that does not
contain any blank space or quote.
• Material : this drop-down menu allows the selection of the inter-phase material. Available materials in
the list are the previously validated materials.
• Inter-phase fraction: the importance of the inter-phase with respect to the other phases of the volume
element can be defined via one of the four following options:
– Volume fraction: this text field defines the volume fraction of the inter-phase in the volume
element.
– Mass fraction: this text field defines the mass fraction of the inter-phase in the volume element.
It is only available if densities have been input for all the validated materials.
– Relative thickness: this text field defines the thickness of the inter-phase layer relative to the
inclusion radius. The inclusion radius is defined as the half of the inclusion size divided by its aspect
ratio.
– Absolute thickness: this text field defines the absolute thickness of the inter-phase. Units are
fixed by the specification of the inclusion radius, which corresponds to the one of the two minor
axes of the ellipsoidal inclusions.
• Inter-phase shape: there are two ways of defining the inter-phase shape (three ways for cylindrical
inclusions).
– Constant thickness: the inter-phase layer has a constant thickness, yielding an aspect ratio
different from the inclusion (except if aspect ratio is equal to 1).
– Constant aspect ratio: the inter-phase layer has the same aspect ratio as the inclusion. In this
case, the inter-phase thickness is not constant (except if aspect ratio is equal to 1).
– Same length as inclusion: this option is only available for cylindrical inclusions. When this option
is selected, the inter-phase layer will have exactly the same length as the cylindrical inclusions.
Therefore, the two planar faces of the cylindrical inclusion are not covered by inter-phase layer.
Note that debonding options are available when exporting the FE model to Abaqus/CAE. More information
is to be found in the related section.
Digimat-FE V.6
RVE
V.6.1 CPU time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602

V.6.2 Reaching high volume fraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603
V.6.3 Single versus multilayer RVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 604
RVE size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 604
Single microstructure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 605
Multilayer microstructure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 605
Multilayer RVE creation methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 606
RVE waviness definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607
V.6.4 RVE geometry setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 609
Geometric options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 609
Phase generation sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 612
RVE Generation process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 612
Random algorithm seed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 613
Percolation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 613
V.6.5 Geometry visualization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 614
Generate a new microstructure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 614
Load results from a previous analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615
Export geometry files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615
Toolbar actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615
RVE Visualization settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615
RVE Global Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 616
RVE phase data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 618
V.6.6 Mesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 625
Digimat-FE mesher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 625
Mesh options for the Abaqus and Ansys solvers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 629
Grid settings for the FFT solvers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 629
601
602 Digimat-FE RVE
V.6.1 CPU time
The RVE generation process in Digimat-FE is an iterative process. Typically, one inclusion (and if it exists,
its coating) is added at a time. Understanding the process of RVE generation can help choosing the right
parameters to get a representative volume element as fast as possible.
For each inclusion, the step-by-step process is the following:
1. Generate an elementary inclusion. The elementary inclusion is always centered at the origin, with its
main axis aligned on the global Z axis. For all inclusions presenting symmetry of revolution, the main
axis is the axis of revolution. For prisms, it is the extrusion axis.
2. Apply a size transformation, if necessary.
3. Apply a rotation, according to the orientation definition of the inclusion phase.
4. Apply a translation. The translation is
a) random with uniform distribution if no clustering is defined;
b) random with non uniform distribution if clustering is defined, inclusions are more likely to be placed
close to the cluster center.
5. If interpenetration is not allowed, a check for intersection of inclusions is performed.
a) If the being placed inclusion intersects other already placed inclusions, the algorithm goes back to
step 3.
b) Otherwise, the algorithm proceeds to step 6.
6. Check for remaining constraints: minimum distance to already placed inclusions and minimum relative
volume of the being placed inclusion.
a) If all checks are ok, the algorithm proceeds to step 7.
b) If not, the algorithm goes back to step 3.
7. Reaching step 7 is equivalent to successful placement of the inclusion in the being built RVE. The
algorithm updates the current volume fraction.
8. If the required volume fraction is not yet reached, the algorithm starts the procedure again, from step1.
9. If the required volume fraction is reached, the algorithm stops.
In this process, the most time consuming steps are steps 5 and 6, because they are repeated a very large
number of times, potentially several thousand times. It is thus very important to know that the cost of
intersection checking and distance computation varies a lot depending on the type of inclusion. The following
list classifies the inclusions with respect to the costs inherent to steps 5 and 6. The list goes from the smallest
cost to largest one.
1. Sphere
2. Sphero-cylinder
3. Cylinder
4. Ellipsoid
5. Prism
6. Icosahedron
7. Platelet
8. Inclusion From CAD file
This cost is low and very similar for spheres, sphero-cylinders and cylinders. The cost for the remaining types
of inclusion is also very similar, but much higher.
Another important aspect is that, when interpenetration is allowed, intersection calculations are necessary and
expensive. In most of cases, CPU time is higher for calculations when using "allow interpenetration" option.
V.6.2. Reaching high volume fraction 603
V.6.2 Reaching high volume fraction
Because of this iterative random process, reaching high volume fraction can require long CPU time. Here are
some hints to reach volume fractions as high as possible:
• Use “fast” inclusions, i.e., prefer sphero-cylinder or cylinder to ellipsoid or platelets.

• With “fast” inclusions, the “Maximum number of attempts for random placement” can be increased
without any problem. The default value is 400, but values up to 5000 – 6000 are still reasonable and
will help a lot reaching higher volume fraction.
• Allow inclusion size reduction. The behavior of this option is slightly different depending on how the
inclusion phase is defined.
– For inclusion phases defined “By number” and “By size and aspect ratio”, the inclusion size will be
reduced and the aspect ratio will remain constant. Hence, the inclusion diameter will be reduced
as well.
– For inclusion phases defined “By size and diameter”, the inclusion size will be reduced and the
diameter will remain constant. Hence, the aspect ratio will be reduced as well.
• The orientation has a great influence on the maximum volume fraction that can be reached. The
more random the orientation, the lower the maximum volume fraction that can be reached. This effect
becomes stronger when the aspect ratio is high. As an illustration of this phenomenon, let us consider
the case of long cylindrical fibers of aspect ratio 100. With a fully aligned orientation, one can hope
reaching volume fractions higher than 40%, while with a random 3D orientation, getting above 1 or 2
% will be very difficult. A first estimation of the maximum volume fraction that can be attained is the
percolation threshold. Figure V.6.1 shows an estimate of the percolation threshold as a function of the
aspect ratio for ellipsoidal inclusions with random 3D orientation.
Figure V.6.1: Approximate percolation threshold for ellipsoidal inclusions with random 3D orientation. Reference data
coming from Garboczi et al. (1995).
• Avoid using the following options. If they are necessary, try using values as small as possible.
– Minimum relative distance between inclusions.
– Minimum relative volume.
– Clustering.
604 Digimat-FE RVE
V.6.3 Single versus multilayer RVE
This section introduces the RVE types that can be defined in Digimat-FE (see Figure V.6.2). The different
options for each type of RVE are presented.
Two types of RVE are available:
• Single microstructure;
• Multilayer.
Figure V.6.2: RVE type tab.
RVE size
The size of the RVE generated by Digimat-FE can either be automatically computed by Digimat-FE, based
on the microstructure definition of the composite or manually specified via three dimensions.
• Automatic: Digimat-FE automatically computes an adapted size for the RVE, such that at least 3 to
5 inclusions can be placed along each of the three axes of the RVE. This takes into account:
– the size and the shape of each inclusion phase;
– the orientation of each inclusion phase.
It is generally recommended to use the automatically computed size, except for the following specific
cases:
V.6.3. Single versus multilayer RVE 605
– when there is a large difference between the size of the inclusions of the different inclusion phases;
– when inclusion phases defined by the inclusion size and the number of inclusions are present in a
same analysis.
• User defined: the default value for the user-defined RVE size is 1x1x1.
Single microstructure
Two different kinds of microstructures can be created in Digimat-FE. The first one corresponds to a Single
microstructure analysis.
In this case, the RVE is made up of a matrix phase reinforced with one or several inclusion phases. The user
must associate the name of a microstructure, defined under the Microstructures tree item, with the RVE.
By default, the first microstructure item, in alphabetical order of all the created microstructures, is associated
with the RVE.
Multilayer microstructure
Two different kinds of microstructures can be created in Digimat-FE. The second one corresponds to a
Multilayer microstructure analysis.
In this case, the RVE consists of a stack of layers. With each layer is associated a previously defined mi-
crostructure. Moreover, in the RVE definition, the inclusions’ orientations can be redefined for each layer
without modifying the microstructure parameters.
Several options for creating a multilayer RVE are available (see Figure V.6.2). Their description is given below.
Layer attributes
Each layer of the multilayer RVE is defined by the following attributes:
• Layer name: this text field defines the name of the layer. By default, LayerN is the name of the Nth
layer. As layers are identified by their names, each layer must have a different name.
• Microstructure: this drop-down menu gives the user the possibility to choose among the already defined
microstructures the one that will serve as definition for the current layer. By default, the orientation of
the layer is taken as the one being defined in the inclusion phase of the microstructure. There are however
two ways to modify the orientation of the inclusion phase without creating another microstructure:
– Rotation: this text field can be used to define an additional rotation, in the (1,2)-plane, that will
be applied to the inclusion phase orientation definition. This only applies to orientations specified
as fixed or by a tensor.
– Orientation definition: five types of orientation can be attributed to the layer, overriding or not
the orientation definition that is given in the microstructure definition.
∗ From phase: the orientation of the inclusion phase is given by the one defined in the mi-
crostructure associated with the current layer.
606 Digimat-FE RVE
∗ Fixed: allows the user to define the spherical angles ϕ and θ that describe the orientation of
the fibers by opening the dialog box in the Orientation column. This option overrides the
orientation defined in the microstructure item.
∗ Random 2D/Random 3D: these choices can be made to assign a random distribution of the
fiber orientation, either in the (1,2)-plane or in the RVE 3D space. This option overrides the
∗ Tensor: allows the user to define the orientation tensor that describes the orientation of
the fibers by opening the dialog box in the Orientation column. This option overrides the
The same microstructure can be attributed to different layers.
• Thickness: this text field should be used to define the real thickness of the layer or relative to the
overall RVE thickness. This value must be strictly positive. No pre-defined value are used.
• Orientation: this field reports the spherical angles if the orientation is said to be fixed, or it reports
the orientation tensor components entered by the user when redefining the inclusion phase’s orientation.
Note an additional rotation can be applied to the fixed orientation or the orientation tensor defined in
this field. To edit this field, one must click on the Edit button located at the end each layer’s row.
Note that the sole layers with the green check symbol will be taken into account in the computation. To
activate or deactivate a layer, click on the symbol in the leftmost column of the RVE definition table. A
deactivated layer is grayed and marked with a red cross in the leftmost column.
Multilayer RVE creation methodology
Three complementary methods are available to create a laminate material in Digimat GUI. These methods are
described here after.
Method 1: Right-clicking
By right-clicking in the RVE definition table while hovering over a layer, called the selected layer in the
following, the Layer Context Menu appears. This menu gives the user several options to add, delete, copy
or move layers in the RVE definition table.
All these operations are performed with respect to the selected layer.
Method 2: Using the Pattern tool

Left-clicking the Pattern button at the bottom of the RVE definition table, see Figure V.6.2, opens a dialog
box enabling the user to create a multilayer microstructure using copy/symmetry/anti-symmetry tools.
• The Copy pattern tool: after having selected the layers of the microstructure to be copied, the user
can choose the number of times the pattern should be copied and where they should be copied in the
already existing structure.
• The Anti-symmetry and Symmetry pattern tools: using these two options, the user can construct an
anti-symmetric or symmetric laminate. After selecting the layers to be patterned, the type of symmetry
and the layer of symmetry, the multilayer microstructure is updated by clicking the Ok button.
V.6.3. Single versus multilayer RVE 607
Method 3: Import from orientation file

Left-clicking on the Import button located below the RVE definition table opens a dialog box offering the
user to load a multilayer RVE definition from the formatted files. Several options are available for the import:
• File format: four file formats are available, the Moldflow Midplane one (*.xml), the Moldex Midplane
one (*.ele), the Digimat one (*.dof ); the last format (*.csv file) is described below and activates some
specificities.
• File: this field allows the user to specify the path to the file(s) containing the RVE definition.
• Handling of orientation at skins: the orientation tensors coming from an orientation file are given at
each layer skin and not for each layer, i.e., there are N+1 skins for an N layer RVE. Except for external
layers, the orientation tensor of a layer is computed by averaging the orientation tensors given at the
layer skins. For external layers, three options are available to compute the orientation tensor:
– From next layer (not used): using this option will attribute the orientation tensors of skins 2
and N to layers 1 and N. This is the default method.
– Used as given: using this option will compute the orientation tensors of the external layers by
averaging the orientation tensors from their skins.
– Random 2D: using this option will compute the orientation in external layers using a Random 2D
orientation definition in the extreme skins.
• Element id: this allows the user to select which orientation tensors should be extracted. The default
value is 1. For Digimat orientation files (*.dof ) which can contain 2nd order elements’ orientation
definition, the first integration point of the chosen element is selected.
• Microstructure: name of the microstructure to be associated to the imported laminate.
Note that the number of layers and the thickness distribution employed in the Moldflow Midplane simulation
are automatically identified by the import module. If a laminate is already defined, these can be erased at the
import if the Clear existing layers box is checked.
CSV Laminate File (*.csv) is a specific orientation file format that contains the definition of a single laminate
(or multilayer RVE). Using this format desactivates the "Handling of orientation at skins" and "Element Id"
frameboxes. The CSV Laminate File format convention is the following:
LayerName,Thickness,Rotation,a11,a22,a33,a12,a23,a13
LayerName,Thickness,Rotation,theta,phi
# Hash-starting and empty lines are ignored.
# Each line must contain 5 or 9 entries.
# The entries can be separated by semicolons, commas, blankspaces or tabulations.
# All entries are numeric values, except LayerName(text without blankspaces).
# Thickness must be strictly positive.
# AdditionalRotation, theta and phi are expressed in degrees.
Using this file format enables the user to define each layer’s name, thickness, rotation and orientation. The
orientation definition is automatically switched between "Fixed" and "Tensor" when doing so; however, other
orientation definitions are not managed.
RVE waviness definition
This set of options (V.6.3) is only available for UD RVEs with fibers orientated along the X-axis (θ = 90 and
φ = 0). It allows to distort the mesh using two sine function (one for the Y-direction and the other for the
Z-direction). The node coordinates are modified using the two following equations.
y
yn = y + Ay sin 2π (V.6.1)
L
z
zn = z + Az sin 2π (V.6.2)
L
608 Digimat-FE RVE
Figure V.6.3: RVE waviness definition (only for UD RVEs with fibers along X-direction).
where L is the wavelength, computed as the RVE size in X direction divided by the number of periods. Ay
and Az are respectively the Y and Z amplitudes. The x coordinates of the nodes remains unaffected.
V.6.4. RVE geometry setup 609
V.6.4 RVE geometry setup
This tab allows specifying different geometrical constraints that will apply to the generation of the RVE (see
Figure V.6.4). These constraints can be defined at the global level (and will act as default constraints for all
phases where no local constraint is defined) or at the level of a specific phase (or couple of phase). Local
geometric options for a specific phase (or couple of phase) can be defined by clicking in the corresponding cell
of the table. A pop up window will then allow defining a new set of "local" parameters.
Figure V.6.4: RVE settings tab.
The different parameters are detailed below.
Geometric options
These options are specific to geometrical features of the to-be-generated microstructure.
• Periodic geometry: this option is to be used for the generation of periodic geometries, i.e., any inclusion
intersecting one of the RVE faces will have its complement placed periodically in the RVE, such that
opposite faces look identical. See Figure V.6.5.
610 Digimat-FE RVE
Figure V.6.5: 2D example of a periodic geometry.
• Allow interpenetration of inclusions: this option authorizes the intersection of inclusions, coating
included. See Figure V.6.6.
• Allow interpenetration of coatings: this option authorizes the intersection of coated inclusions while
preventing the intersection of the inclusions themselves. See Figure V.6.6. This option is only useful if
coatings are defined.
• Use median plane interpenetration: this option activates a different way of resolving interpenetration
of inclusions. Instead of simply cutting out from the new inclusion the volume that overlaps with
pre-existing inclusion (i.e. leaving the pre-existing inclusion unaffected), both inclusions are cut by the
median plane of the intersecting volume (see Figure V.6.6 for illustration). Note that this option is not
available with prism inclusions.
• Exclude orientation lower than: once checked on, this option constrains the placement of the inclusions
intersecting the RVE faces. Inclusions forming an angle with one of the RVE faces, lower than the
specified angle are excluded. Such exclusion can help to avoid distorted elements in the inclusion and
in the matrix. This option is only relevant for spherocylinder inclusions.
• Minimum relative distance between inclusions (relative to inclusion size): this option can be used
to constrain the distance between the placed inclusions in the RVE. See Figure V.6.7. The effective
distance is computed based on the size of the current inclusion. This can be useful to avoid geometries
difficult to mesh, e.g., when two inclusions are nearly touching each other. If a non-zero distance is
specified, the Allow interpenetration of inclusions and Allow interpenetration of coatings options
are automatically disabled.
• Minimum relative volume (relative to elementary inclusion volume): this option is to be used to
specify a minimum volume for the placed inclusions. When inclusions are intersecting with the faces
of the RVE or interpenetrating with other inclusions, some parts of the inclusion are removed. If the
volume of the remaining part is less than the specified value, then this inclusion is discarded. The
specified value is relative to the initial volume of the current inclusion. If a value of 1 is specified, no
intersection between the inclusions and the faces of the RVE will be allowed, i.e., all the inclusions will
lie fully inside the RVE. See Figure V.6.8.
Figure V.6.6: Illustration of the interpenetration options.
Figure V.6.7: Minimum relative distance between inclusions.
Note that for periodic RVE, the minimum relative volume constraint applies to all bits of inclusions present
in the RVE. As such, setting the minimum relative volume to 50% will prevent intersection of the inclusions
and the RVE faces if a periodic geometry is requested.
• Minimum relative distance between inclusions and cube faces (relative to elementary inclusion
diameter): this option can be used to constrain the distance between the placed inclusions and the RVE
faces. It can be useful to avoid distorted elements in the matrix. The effective distance is computed
based on the diameter of the current inclusion. This option is only supported with circles, spheres,
spherocylinders and continuous fibers without or with coating.
• Maximum number of attempts for random placement: Digimat-FE uses random placement tech-
niques to place the inclusions one after another in the RVE. The placement of each inclusion results from
the convergence of an iterative process. The position of the inclusion is accepted once all constraints on
the inclusion position are verified, e.g., the position of the inclusion is such that there is no interpenetra-
612 Digimat-FE RVE
Figure V.6.8: Illustration of the concept of minimum relative volume.
tion with the neighboring inclusions. If the iterative process requires more than the specified maximum
number of attempts for random placement, Digimat-FE will stop the generation process, after issuing
an error message. Increasing this parameter may help generating complex constrained microstructures.
• Tolerance on the norm of orientation tensor for random placement with sphero-cylindrical
inclusions: this option is used to constrain the discrepancy on the orientation tensor when using the
random placement algorithm with sphero-cylindrical inclusions. The default value is 0.1. It means that
we will only accept a geometry for which the norm of the distance between the requested orientation
tensor and the reached orientation tensor is 0.1. It not successful, another attempt is started.
• Maximum number of geometry attempts for random placement with sphero-cylindrical inclu-
sions: this option is used to control the maximum number of attemps to obtain a geometry which has
an orientation tensor satisfying the tolerance. The default value is 10. It means that we will continue
to generate a geometry until either both the volume fraction and orientation tensor target are satisfied
or until the 10 attempts is reached. When the maximum number of attempts is reached, if no geome-
try satisfying the tolerance on the orientation tensor is met, the geometry with the best orientation is
selected. The user is warned about the non success of the geometry generation and about the selected
attempt.
Phase generation sequence
This section allows defining a custom phase generation sequence, when more than one inclusion phase is
defined. The default setting is to generate all valid inclusion phases simultaneously. It is also possible to
generate the different inclusion phases sequentially. In that case, the generation sequence can be specified
using the list and buttons.
RVE Generation process
These options allow to control the type of RVE generation process. Several possibilities are available:
• Random fiber placement: Fibers are randomly placed until the target volume fraction is reached. For
microstructures with unidirectional continuous fibers, the algorithm developed by Melro et al. (2008) is
used.
• Maximum packing algorithm: this option is to be used when the user wants to reach higher filler
content then what he managed to reach with the default RVE generation algorithm. The maximum
packing algorithm tries to pack inclusions from the center to the outer of the RVE allowing to lower the
spaces in between inclusions. When using this algorithm the user has to be aware that :
– This algorithm doesn’t consider the volume fraction given for every inclusion as targets, but tries
to reach the highest possible volume fraction.
– As given volume fractions are not targets, the obtained volume fraction will be mainly driven by
the value given for the minimum distance between inclusions as well as by the inclusion’s shape
and orientation.
– If defining a desired number of inclusion, the inclusion size displayed in the GUI won’t be verified
in the generated RVE (as its computation is based on the given volume fraction).
– The Generate all phases simultaneously option must be active.
– The CPU time per generated inclusions is usually a little bit higher than with the default algorithm.
– It can be use with all Digimat-FE options except :
∗ The inclusion size reduction option.
∗ The option allowing inclusions to interpenetrate.
∗ The inclusion clustering option.
• Random fiber perturbation: This generation process contains two steps. In the first step, all fibers are
initially placed on an ideal configuration such that the microstructure parameters are satisfied. In the
second step, the fiber position are randomly perturbated. This option is not available for microstructures
with unidirectional continuous fibers.
For RVE with curved sphero-cylinder inclusions, an additional option is provided, the simulatenous generation
of the geometry and the mesh. If the option is checked, the mesh is generated as the same time as the
geometry if the number of elements is lower than the threshold value provided by the user. In other cases, the
mesh is not generated and only a light visualization of the geometry, inclusions are represented by 1D beam,
is provided.
Random algorithm seed
This option allows to control the seed parameter of the random number generation algorithm. Two options
are available
• Automatic random seed: a random seed is generated once, when the analysis is created. The value
of that seed is then stored along with the other analysis parameters. This means that re-running the
analysis will give exactly the same RVE, unless some phase or analysis parameters have been modified.
• Custom: allows defining a custom seed. The button Get random seed can be used to generate a new
random seed (useful for example to generate a different RVE for the same analysis).
Percolation
In the case of electrical and thermal analyses, Digimat-FE can be used to predict the percolation threshold of
a given microstructure. The percolation can be defined at two levels: (i) globally on the RVE or (ii) locally
at the phase level. The global percolation parameters are part of the analysis parameters while the local
percolation parameters are declared at the phase level (see Section V.10.5).
614 Digimat-FE RVE
V.6.5 Geometry visualization
This section presents the actions that can be carried out from the RVE Visualization item of the Digimat tree.
These are the following ones:
• Generate a new microstructure;

• Load results from a previous analysis;
• Export geometry files;
• RVE Visualization settings;
• Toolbar actions;
• RVE global data;
• RVE phase data.
These actions can also be performed from the context menu displayed by right-clicking the RVE Visualization
item in the Digimat tree. See Figure V.6.9.
Figure V.6.9: The Microstructure Generation Context Menu appears when right-clicking the RVE Visualization tree
item.
The RVE Visualization tree item, which can be accessed by left-clicking on its name in the Digimat tree, also
gives access to the 3D representation of the generated RVE. To each inclusion phase corresponds a given color.
For clarity reasons, the matrix phase itself is not represented. Only the RVE bounding box is represented in
wireframe mode.
Generate a new microstructure

V.6.5. Geometry visualization 615
The generation of a new microstructure can be launched either by submitting a Digimat-FE job in the Digi-
mat tree item or via a left click on the context menu shown in Figure V.6.9. Launching the generation has
the same effect as clicking the Run Digimat button in the top toolbar.
Load results from a previous analysis
Results, understand geometries, from previous analyses can be loaded in the GUI provided that the geometry
files (*.brep files) are present in the working directory and that the analysis has been loaded in the GUI. Also
note that the job name should match the one used for the run of the analysis to be loaded.
Export geometry files
Once the Digimat-FE analysis has completed, the generated geometry can be exported to different format
standards, for importing it in a finite element pre-processor. The available format standards are:
• Parasolid (*.xmt_txt);
• Step (*.step);
• Iges (*.iges);
• Stl (*.stl).
The Stl format is only available for analysis with curved sphero-cylinder inclusions. All other formats cannot
be used for analysis with curved sphero-cylinder inclusions.
Toolbar actions
The icons available at the top of the RVE Visualization viewport allow the user to perform several operations.
Among them are:
• Picking one of the default predefined views.

• Switching between parallel and perspective projection models.
• Clearing the viewport.
• Exporting the content of the viewport to an image file.
• Exporting the generated model to a geometry file or a FE pre-processor.
RVE Visualization settings
The RVE 3D geometry visualization options can be tuned here.

It is also possible to replay the generation process of the RVE, and to save this animation to an AVI file.
When playing the animation directly within Digimat-FE, it is possible to choose between a constant speed
and a variable speed. The variable speed is based on the actual generation speed (i.e., typically fast at the
beginning, and becomes slower as the generation goes on and the volume fraction and number of inclusions
616 Digimat-FE RVE
rise). A speed factor can be defined for both constant and variable speed to slow down (speed factor<1) or
accelerate (speed factor>1) the animation.
When the animation is saved to an AVI file, each inclusion will correspond to one frame in the AVI. The frame
rate and resolution to use can be specified. The AVI is compressed using the Microsoft Video 1 codec.
Inclusions can be highlighted one by one through the Identify an inclusions option. Cut planes of the RVE
along the x, y and z directions can also be displayed.
Figure V.6.10: RVE Visualization settings
RVE Global Data
This tab shows some general information from the Digimat-FE log file (see Figure V.6.11). That information
includes
• The CPU time for the Digimat-FE analysis

• The date and time the analysis was run
• The version of Digimat-FE that was used
• For each inclusion phase
– The number of inclusions
– The effective volume fraction
Figure V.6.11: RVE global data.
– The reference volume fraction

618 Digimat-FE RVE
RVE phase data
This tab allows to post-process all the data stored at phase level by Digimat-FE during the RVE generation
process. These data are available for every individual inclusion in every phase in the RVE. These data are the
following:
• Orientation: can be used to recompute the effective orientation tensor of an inclusion phase in the RVE,
and compare that effective tensor to the requested one
• Position: can be used to compute a distribution of the distance between nearest neighbor (to give an
image of the “randomness” of the spatial positioning).
• Size: can be used to plot the inclusion size distribution. The effective size distribution can be compared
to the requested size distribution to check for discrepancies between the two.
• Volume/Area: plot the inclusion volume/area distribution
• Curvature : plot inclusion curvatures only for analysis with curved sphero-cylinder inclusions.
Each of those data is displayed and summarized on a dedicated panel, for each inclusion phase. These panels
share the same layout (see Figure 4, Figure V.6.12, Figure V.6.13, Figure V.6.14 or Figure V.6.15). On the
top left, there is a summary of the complete data set (usually, a table with the average, minimum, maximum
and standard deviation values). On the bottom left, there is a plot area. The plot is displayed only when it
makes sense, i.e., not when the values are constant for all inclusions in the current phase. On the right, there
is a table with the complete data set. The first column in this table is always the inclusion id. When the
RVE that is being post processed is periodic, the inclusion id has the format i.j, where i is the inclusion id,
and j is the “periodic id”. When the periodic id is different from 1, it indicates that this inclusion has been
duplicated because the “initial” inclusion was intersecting the boundaries of the RVE. For non periodic RVE,
the inclusion id is simply an integer (starting at 1). Inclusions ids are always ordered (i.e., inclusion with id 1
was the first to be placed, inclusion with id 2 the second, etc.).
Orientation
An example of this panel is shown in Figure V.6.11. This panel is not available for ellipsoid inclusions with
an aspect ratio of 1 (spheres). The summary data shows the actual orientation tensor (recomputed based on
the orientation of each individual inclusion), and the reference orientation tensor. A global error indicator is
computed according to the following formula:
sX
2 2
aactual − aref aactual − aref
X
ii ii + 2.0 ∗ ij ij with ii ∈ {11, 22, 33} and ij ∈ {12, 13, 23} (V.6.3)
ii ij
The data shown in the table in the right part of the panel are the values of the theta and phi angle that define
the orientation of each individual inclusion.
Position
An example of this panel is shown in Figure V.6.12. Three different plots are available. They show the
projection on the three principal planes (XY, XZ and YZ) of the geometrical center of each inclusion. Each
point corresponds to one inclusion, and the solid line shows the boundary of the RVE. The data shown in
the table in the right part of the panel are the x,y,z coordinates of the geometrical center of each individual
inclusions.
Nearest neighbor
An example of this panel is shown in Figure V.6.13. The data displayed here is computed based on the
positions of the geometrical center of each inclusion. With this information, we compute for each inclusion
the distance to its nearest neighbor. The table in the right part of this panel shows for each inclusion the id
of the nearest inclusion, and the distance to that inclusion.
Figure V.6.12: Post-processing panel for inclusion orientation.
Size
An example of this panel is shown in Figure V.6.14. When a size distribution has been specified in the
definition of the inclusion phase, it is plotted alongside the actual size distribution. If no size distribution has
been specified (i.e., if all inclusions have the same size), the histogram is not displayed.
For curved inclusions, three similar panels are available. The first one uses the “straight” size, the size of the
straight line joining the two ends of the inclusion. The second one uses the “curvilinear” size, and the third
one uses the ration between the straight and curvilinear size (this ratio is thus always between 0 and 1). This
ratio is useful to get an idea of “how tortuous” an inclusion phase is. Remember that the value of tortuosity
specified during the definition of the inclusion is nothing more that a maximum.
Volume
An example of this panel is shown in Figure V.6.15. This panel is not available when it doesn’t make sense,
i.e., for beam inclusions (volume equal zero). The data shown in the table in the right part of this panel is
the volume and the outside surface of each individual inclusion. In case of plane strain RVEs (i.e., with 2D
inclusions), only the surface is available.
Curvatures
Three various curvatures can be plotted :
• Minimum angle over all angles between two consecutive segments describing the curved fibers
• Mean angle over all angles between two consecutive segments describing the curved fibers
620 Digimat-FE RVE
Figure V.6.13: Post-processing panel for inclusion position.
• Ratio between fiber length and length between fibers extremities
Intercept
The linear intercept method is a technique commonly used to quantify the grain size and the contiguity of
metal microstructure by drawing a set of vertical, horizontal and diagonal line segments on the micrograph (a
2D section of the 3D RVE in Digimat-FE), and counting the number of times each line segment intersects a
grain boundary. Intercept length distribution is thus only available with Cemented metal microstructures. The
number of cut planes and of intercept lines in the horizontal, vertical and diagonal directions can be specified.
After clicking on the compute button, the intercept length distribution is generated and a histogram with
customizable number of classes is displayed. The raw data can also be exported in csv format. An example of
this panel is shown in Figure V.6.17. When a intercept length distribution has been specified in the definition
of the inclusion phase, it is plotted alongside the actual distribution.
The contiguity (i.e., the percentage of inclusion-inclusion boundaries) is also computed based on the number
of intersections N . All inclusion-inclusion boundaries are counted twice, since they are shared by two adjacent
inclusions. The contiguity of an inclusion X in a matrix Y is given by:
2NX/X
C= (V.6.4)
NX/Y + 2NX/X
This formula can be extended to multi-phase materials.

Figure V.6.14: Post-processing panel for nearest neighbor distance
Equivalent diameter
For metal microstructures, the equivalent diameter of 2D inclusions resulting from an intersection between
the 3D inclusions and a cut plane normal to the z axis, can be computed. The number of cut planes and the
number of histogram classes can be specified. The raw data can also be exported in csv format.
622 Digimat-FE RVE
Figure V.6.15: Post processing panel for inclusion size.

Figure V.6.16: Post-processing panel for inclusion volume.

624 Digimat-FE RVE
Figure V.6.17: Post processing panel for intercept length.

V.6.6. Mesh 625
V.6.6 Mesh
Depending on the choice of FE solver, the meshing of the generated RVE will be handled in different ways.
• When using the Digimat-FE built in solver, Abaqus/Standard, Ansys Classic, LS-Dyna or Marc solver :
meshing of the generated RVE will be performed inside Digimat-FE , using the built in mesher.
• When using the Abaqus or Ansys solver and selecting the "Export via script" option: meshing will be
handled respectively by Abaqus/CAE and Ansys Workbench. However, the meshing procedure will be
entirely controlled by the export script generated by Digimat-FE , using the parameters specified under
the Mesh tree item.
• When using the FFT solver, only the regular grid size has to be defined, since no mesh has to be
generated.
Digimat-FE mesher
Digimat-FE offers three different mesh types

• Conforming (tetra)
• Non-conforming (voxel)
• Mesh cutting (tetra)
The conforming mesh is available for all RVE excepted those with strand phase and those with curved sphero-
cylinder shape of inclusions. The non-conforming mesh is available for all RVE excepted those with voids
phases and those with curved sphero-cylinder shape of inclusions. The mesh cutting algorithm is the only type
of mesh for curved sphero-cylinder shape of inclusions.
Conforming mesh
The conforming meshes generated by Digimat-FE use first or second order tetrahedral elements (or triangular
elements for 2D plane strain RVEs).
The following parameters control the conforming mesh generation (see Figure V.6.18):
• Element size: indicative element size. The effective element size can be smaller in some location (for
instance close to curved edges)
• Minimum element size: no element smaller than this will be generated
• Cohesive element size ratio: only available when cohesive elements are used. It allows to define the size
for the cohesive elements (relative to the regular element size). The default is to use cohesive elements
five times finer that regular elements.
• Number of refinement steps: controls the maximum allowed number of meshing iterations. At the end
of each iteration, all geometries that could not be meshed successfully using the assigned element size
(and minimum element size) are remeshed in the following iteration with a reduced element size (and
minimum element size). At each iteration, the sizes are reduced by a factor 0.75.
• Use shared nodes at interfaces: when checked on, generates a mesh continuous across phase interfaces,
i.e. a single node will be placed on the interface and shared by the elements on both sides of the
interface (see figure V.6.19). The default for this option is off, meaning that each phase will be meshed
separately. The different phases are then tied together by means of tie mesh constraints.
• Quadratic elements: when checked on, generates second order tetrahedrons (or triangles). Quadratic
geometric elements can then be selected. Geometric elements allow a finer description of the geometry
(see figure V.6.20) and are used by default.
• Internal coarsening: when checked on, the size of elements generated inside the volume is increased as
the distance to bounding faces and edges increases. Note that this parameter has no effect at all on the
surface mesh.
• Curvature control : activate element size control on curved edges and faces
• Chordal deviation ratio: is the ratio between chordal deviation (i.e. distance between the edge of the
finite element and the curved edge of the geometry) and the length of the curve segment. It controls
how finely the curved edges are discretized.
626 Digimat-FE RVE
The "Estimated number of elements" displayed below the mesh settings provides a rough estimation of the
number of elements that will generated with the provided element size. This estimation is computed assuming
that all elements are perfectly regular tetrahedron (or triangle) and doesn’t take into account the influence of
the following parameters:
• Minimum element size
• Internal coarsening
• Chordal deviation ratio
Two buttons are available to restore default values for mesh settings:
• Default element size: reset element size to the default value. This default size is computed based on
the RVE size and the inclusion size and diameter. The default for the minimum element size is 1/5 of
the element size.
• Default mesh settings : reset all mesh settings other than size (and minimum size) to their default
values.
Figure V.6.18: Conforming mesh.
When generating a conforming mesh for a fabric RVE, the user is invited to respect the following rules of good
practice
• use a non zero value for yarn spacing ratio, even very low, of the order of 0.01 to 0.03
• check shared nodes at interfaces for woven and braided but uncheck shared nodes at interfaces for non
crimp
• if a light conforming mesh is targeted, use linear elements without internal coarsening nor curvature
control
Voxel mesh
A voxel mesh is a regular, non-conforming set of brick elements. Each element is assigned the material of
the phase where its center is located. It is intended for complex RVEs on which a conforming mesher has
V.6.6. Mesh 627
Figure V.6.19: Shared nodes mechanism.
Figure V.6.20: Quadratic geometric elements.
badly-shaped elements. It is the only available option for discontinuous fiber composites (DFC). It is the
default for fabrics microstructure for which it is advised to use full integration elements
For a given number of degrees of freedom, the solution of the resulting finite element job is typically much
faster than with the conforming mesh generator if the iterative solver is selected thanks to the regular element
pattern.
The mesh density may be defined either with the number of elements along each direction or with the size
of the elements in each direction. The default setting is 50 voxels in each direction. It is possible to switch
from elements with reduced to full integration by checking the "Use full integration elements" box. See
Figure V.6.21.
Voids and inclusions with an interface are currently not supported by the voxel method.
628 Digimat-FE RVE
Figure V.6.21: Voxel mesh.
Mesh cutting algorithm

The results of this meshing technique is a conformal mesh obtained from the adaptation of a regular set of
tetrahedral elements. The algorithm is divided in two steps. First, a regular non-conformal mesh is generated.
Second, the mesh is adapted in order to be conformal. Nodes position and geometry definition can be adapted
in this second step. The algorithm takes three input values
• Element edge length (relative to the fiber diameter). It defines the edge size of the initial regular mesh.
• Projection tolerance to edge length ratio. It defines the maximum node displacement relative to the
initial edge size.
• Fit to vertex tolerance to edge length ratio. It defines the maximum geometry displacement relative to
the initial edge size.
Meshing process
When the meshing process is started (by clicking the "Mesh" button), it provides progress information through
the progress bar and meshing dialog box. When running, the meshing process can be aborted at any time
with the "Cancel" button.
As soon as the meshing process completes, the generated mesh is displayed.
Mesh visualization settings can be adjusted in the same way as for geometry (see V.6.5).
RVE mesh data

This tab shows some general information about the generated mesh (cpu time for mesh generation, total
number of nodes and elements).
It also provides information at phase level. For each phase:
• Number of elements
• Effective volume fraction computed on the mesh
V.6.6. Mesh 629
• Effective volume fraction computed on the geometry

Comparing the two last values (i.e. volume fractions on the mesh and on the geometry) gives an idea of the
effect of the mesh discretization on the volume fraction of each phase in the RVE. In some way, this is also
an indication about the mesh quality.
Two mesh quality indicators are available (only with conforming tetrahedron or triangle mesh): gamma and
rho.
The gamma mesh quality indicator is computed as the ratio between the diameter of the inscribed sphere (or
circle for 2D elements) and the diameter of the circumscribed sphere (or circle). It is scaled to be equal to 1
for regular tetrahedrons, i.e. it will always be between 0 and 1.
The rho mesh quality indicator is the ratio between the shortest and the longest edge of the element. It is
thus also always between 0 and 1.
For each indicator, both minimum, maximum and mean values are provided as well as an histogram showing
the distribution of the full mesh.
Mesh options for the Abaqus and Ansys solvers
The following mesh settings are available to control meshing in Abaqus/CAE and Ansys Workbench:
• Element type: 1st and 2nd order tetrahedral elements are available. The use of quadratic geometric
elements is not robust in Abaqus and this option is then turned off by default;
• Initial seed size: the initial seed size which is used for the global seeding of the model, the default value
is RVE-dependent and usually suitable for most analyses;
• Number of refinement steps: the authorized number of mesh refinement steps that can be carried out
during the meshing procedure; if, during the meshing procedure, generated elements fail the quality
checks, local seeding on the failed inclusions, with a smaller seed, will be used up to that number of
times.
When working with Abaqus/CAE, extra settings are available:
• Multilayer RVE: model layer interface imposes nodes to be present at the interface between layers. This
is mandatory if different materials are used in the matrix of the different layers of the RVE.
• Use shared nodes at interfaces: a continuous mesh is used at the interface between the inclusions and
the matrix phase. If unchecked, the interface is modeled using a *TIE constraint (i.e. separate nodes
are used on the matrix and on the inclusion side of the interface.
Grid settings for the FFT solvers
With the FFT solver, the user has to define the number of grid points along each direction. This can be done
by giving either the number of points along a direction or the size of the spacing between two adjacent points
in that direction.
The 3D regular grid of points is represented on the right as three 2D grids of points in the middle of the
RVE. This should give a visual indication about the point spacing with respect to the inclusion characteristic
lengths. See Figure V.6.22.
630 Digimat-FE RVE
Figure V.6.22: Grid settings.

Digimat-FE V.7
Failure
V.7.1 Failure indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 632

Von Mises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 632
User-defined . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 632
V.7.2 Per-phase failure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 633
631
632 Digimat-FE Failure
V.7.1 Failure indicators
This section describes the different failure indicators available in Digimat-FE to model failure inside the RVE.
In Digimat-FE, the failure indicators currently available are:
• Maximum component (stress-based)
• Tsai-Hill 3D transversely isotropic (stress-based)
• Tsai-Wu 3D transversely isotropic (stress-based)
• Hashin 3D (stress-based)
• Von-Mises (stress-based)
• User-defined (with Digimat-FE-solver only)
Except for the few ones described below, these failure indicators are equivalent to their Digimat-MF counter-
parts (see Section IV.9.1).
Von Mises
This criterion has one input argument and outputs one indicator.
Input:
1. Von Mises strength, S (has the dimension of a stress).
Ouput:
1. Failure indicator:
J2
with J2 = (σ11 − σ22 )2 + (σ22 − σ33 )2 + (σ33 − σ11 )2 + 3 σ12 (V.7.1)
2 2 2

fA = + σ23 + σ13
S2
User-defined
This failure indicator is equivalent to its Digimat-MF counterpart, except for the following specificities:
1. This failure indicator can only be used with Digimat-FE solver.
2. The subroutine associated to this failure indicator does not receive the accumulated plastic strain as
input.
V.7.2. Per-phase failure 633
V.7.2 Per-phase failure
This section covers the different options available in Digimat-FE to model failure inside the RVE. This capability
covers all the types of RVEs but is only available when using Digimat-FE solver or Marc as finite element
solver. A few other known limitations may apply, see Subsection XV.4.2.
Failure indicators are added by right-clicking on "Failure" in the Digimat tree (see Figure V.7.1). The user
must then choose the type of failure indicator in a drop-down list (see Figure V.7.2) and fill in the different
model parameters.
Figure V.7.1: Adding a failure criterion
Figure V.7.2: Choosing a failure model
When filling in the model parameters, the user can choose whether or not to apply damage upon failure (see
Figure V.7.3):
• If no damage is applied upon failure, the material behavior is unaffected by the failure indicators.
The latter serve the only purpose of computing failure index values which are then available for post-
processing.
• If damage is applied upon failure, the stiffness of the material is instantaneously and irreversibly reduced
as soon as the failure criterion is met and the user needs to specify a value between 0.01 and 1 for
the residual stiffness factor (see Figure V.7.3). When using the Hashin 3D criterion, the stiffness is
reduced differently along the different material directions and differently as a function of the type of
failure (either fiber or matrix failure). The procedure followed is similar to the Matzenmiller 3D damage
model (see Section IV.9.3). When using the maximum component criterion, the stiffness is only reduced
for the component considered by the criterion. When using any other criteria, the stiffness is reduced
similarly in all directions.
• If damage is applied upon failure, element deletion can be requested for FESolver or Marc solvers. In
such a case, residual stiffness still needs to be defined especially when elements with multiple integration
points are used. Indeed, the element is only deleted when all integration points have failed.
Figure V.7.3: Choosing damage behavior
When filling in the model parameters for stress-based failure criteria and when using Digimat-FE solver as
finite element solver, the user is also offered the possibility to apply some variability to the different strength
values used in the failure criterion (see Figure V.7.4). In that case, each inclusion is assigned a different
strength value s which is randomly picked using a Weibull distribution. The cumulative distribution function
f (S) which gives the probability p(s ≤ S) that the random strength s is lower than or equal to S writes for
the Weibull distribution: m
S
f (S) = p(s ≤ S) = 1 − exp (V.7.2)
S0
where:
• m is the shape parameter which needs to be input in the GUI by the user (see Figure V.7.4). The larger
the value of m, the smaller the scatter.
• S0 is the scale parameter which is chosen by Digimat in the background so that the expected value of
s is equal to the strength value input by the user in the GUI. As a consequence, the average value of
the strength over all inclusions in the RVE will tend to the value input in the GUI as the number of
inclusions increases.
The failure criteria defined above need to be assigned to the materials used in the RVE in the Table appearing
after left-clicking on "Failure" in the Digimat tree (see Figure V.7.5). When using Marc as finite element
solver, failure criteria can only be assigned to elastic and thermoelastic materials. Generally speaking, only one
failure criterion can be assigned to a given material. There is one exception to that rule: several maximum
stress criteria can be assigned to the same material as long as they consider different stress components and
request the same type of behavior upon failure (either with or without damage upon failure and with the same
residual stiffness factor).
In the case of a fabric RVE (e.g. a woven composite), the mechanical behavior assigned to the yarn is not
directly defined by the user: it is derived internally by Digimat-FE from the matrix material, the fiber material
and the fiber volume fraction inside the yarns. On the other hand, the failure criterion being applied at the
yarn level can be defined in two different ways:
• Either by assigning directly a failure criterion at the yarn level (see Figure V.7.6);
• Or by defining failure criteria at the material level. In this case, Digimat-FE will compute an equivalent
Hashin-like failure indicator derived from the failure criteria assigned to the matrix and to the fiber
materials, and apply it to the yarn level. For the sake of consistency, the latter criteria therefore need
to request the same type of behavior upon failure and be such that they induce a closed failure surface
at the yarn level.
When applying damage upon failure, the computations tend to face convergence issues due to the rapid
changes in stiffness values. Dedicated solutions have been implemented to mitigate these issues:
• in Digimat-FE solver, damage is propagated using an explicit scheme. In other words, the damage values
and the stiffness reductions over a given time increment are computed based on the stress and strain
values obtained at the end of the previous time increment. Moreover, the time increment is automatically
reduced to the minimum time increment as the failure indicators approach a value of 1 and further kept
equal to that minimum value as long as elements are failing anywhere in the RVE.
Figure V.7.4: Applying strength variability
Figure V.7.5: Assigning failure indicators (at material level)
• in Marc, when convergence cannot be achieved with the minimum time increment, the tolerance which
is used to assess convergence is automatically loosened (only over that particular time increment) to
make it possible to go to the next time increment.
Figure V.7.6: Assigning failure indicator (at yarn level)
Both solutions rely on simplifying assumptions which become more and more reasonable as the minimum time
increment used in the computations becomes smaller. The user is therefore advised to run multiple analyses
with decreasing minimum time increment values, as shown in Figure V.7.7. The idea behind is to check that
the solution or the predicted strength of the material have become reasonably independent of the minimum
time increment value used.
Figure V.7.7: Effect of minimum time increment on predicted strength values

It readily follows from the above that simulations involving damage upon failure require a large number of
time increments to complete. It might therefore be worth decreasing the frequency at which the finite element
results are stored in order to reduce the size of the result files and facilitate post-processing operations. This
can be done in the second tab of the solver parameters as explained later in the manual (see Section V.9.2).
Different quantities are available for post-processing when using per-phase failure criteria: failure index values
and, if applying damage upon failure, damage values.
• To the exception of the maximum component and Hashin 3D criteria, all criteria output a single failure
index value which is denoted by "1st Failure Index" in the finite element results. A given maximum com-
ponent criterion also outputs a single value but which is denoted differently according to the component
being considered: the values corresponding to components 11, 22, 33, 12, 23 and 31 are respectively
denoted by "1st", "2nd", "3rd", "4th", "5th" and "6th Failure Index". The Hashin 3D criterion outputs
four values, corresponding to fiber failure under tensile loading, fiber failure under compression loading,
matrix failure under tensile loading and matrix failure under compression loading which are respectively
denoted by "1st", "2nd", "3rd" and "4th Failure Index".
• When applying damage upon failure and using Marc as finite element solver, an extra quantity called
"Damage" is available for post-processing. It is equal to one minus the maximum over the different
material directions of the stiffness reduction factors effectively applied. For example, when using a von
Mises failure indicator with a residual stiffness factor of 0.15, the quantity "Damage" starts from zero
and becomes constant and equal to 1-0.15=0.85 as soon as the failure criterion is met.
• When applying damage upon failure and using Digimat-FE solver as finite element solver, up to six extra
quantities called "1st", "2nd", "3rd", "4th", "5th" and "6th Damage Variable" are available for post-
processing. With the Hashin 3D criterion, the "1st Damage Variable" corresponds to fiber damage while
the "2nd Damage Variable" corresponds to matrix damage. With the maximum component criterion,
the "1st", "2nd", "3rd", "4th", "5th" and "6th Damage Variable" correspond respectively to the damage
along the components 11, 22, 33, 12, 23 and 31. With all other criteria, damage is assumed to be
isotropic and made available for post-processing in the "1st Damage variable". Similarly to Marc solver,
these damage values start from a value of zero and become equal to one minus the stiffness reduction
factor as soon as one of the relevant failure criteria is met.
As already explained above, it should be kept in mind that, when using Digimat-FE solver, the damage values
output at the end of a given time increment are computed based on the stress and strain values at the end of
the previous time increment.
Digimat-FE V.8
Loadings
V.8.1 Type of boundary condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 640

Dirichlet BC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 640
Mixed BC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 640
Periodic BC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 641
In-plane periodic BC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 642
V.8.2 Mechanical loading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 643
Loading type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 643
Loading history types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 646
Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 647
Loading source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 647
V.8.3 Thermo-mechanical loading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 650
V.8.4 Thermal loading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651
V.8.5 Electrical loading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 652
639
640 Digimat-FE Loadings
V.8.1 Type of boundary condition
Four different types of analysis are available in Digimat-FE: mechanical, thermo-mechanical, thermal and
electrical analyses. For each type of analysis, appropriate boundary conditions need to be defined. This
section presents the different types of loading available for these analyses as well as the way they are applied
in the finite element model.
To apply a loading to a volume element, a kinematic approach is followed, i.e., prescribed local field magnitudes
(displacements, temperatures, electric potential), representative of a macroscopic boundary condition, are
imposed on the volume element boundaries. Several ways of applying such boundary conditions exist and
three of them are implemented in Digimat-FE: the Dirichlet BC type, the Mixed BC type and the Periodic BC
type respectively. These are to be selected when the loading is defined.
Dirichlet BC
Using this option, field boundary conditions will be applied on all the faces of the volume element. On the
faces where no field values are prescribed, it is imposed that the field variable, or its component normal to the
volume element face, be constant.
At the level of the finite element model, this type of boundary conditions is enforced using multi-point
kinematic constraints. The eight nodes located at the eight corner of the RVE act as control nodes, on which
displacements are applied directly. The displacements applied on these nodes are of course dependent on the
loading type, the peak strains and the loading history. The displacements of all the other nodes lying on
the outside faces of the RVE are not controlled directly, but they are interpolated from the displacement of
the corner nodes: for each of the 6 outside faces, the displacements of all the nodes lying on this face are
interpolated in a bilinear way from the displacements of the four corner nodes of the face.
Depending on the loading, it may occur that the RVE faces do not remain planar.
Mixed BC
Using this option, field boundary conditions will be applied on the faces of the volume element where a
condition is prescribed. On the other faces, no field boundary conditions will be applied, ensuring a free state.
At the level of the finite element model, this type of boundary conditions is enforced using six reference nodes
and a set of equations relating the degree of freedom of the nodes on the outside faces to the degrees of
freedom of the reference node. Depending on the loading type, some of this equations are activated, and
others are not (those acting on the faces that must remain free).
Figure V.8.1 illustrates the difference between Dirichlet and Mixed boundary conditions in the case of a
mechanical loading. The volume element is subjected to a uniaxial loading with an average uniaxial peak
strain ε11 . All faces remain straight in the first loading case as the component of the displacement field
normal to the face is interpolated from the displacement of the corner nodes, while some local effects prevent
it from remaining straight in the second loading case, where this displacement component is free (stress free
boundary condition).
V.8.1. Type of boundary condition 641
Figure V.8.1: Comparison of Dirichlet and Mixed boundary condition types.
Periodic BC
Using this option will impose periodic boundary conditions on all the faces of the volume element. Periodic
boundary conditions ensure that the flux of the field variable (displacement, temperature, electric potential)
is periodic with respect to the faces of the volume element. This is enforced through a large set of equations
relating the degrees of freedom of the nodes lying on one face with those of the corresponding nodes lying
on the opposite face, on a 2-by-2 basis. Node duplication is used to prevent issues coming from non periodic
meshes. Figure V.8.2 illustrates the definition of periodic boundary conditions in the case of a mechanical
loading with a macroscopic uniaxial peak strain ε11 .
Periodic boundary conditions usually lead to the best predictions when compared to the Dirichlet and Mixed
boundary condition type. It also shows a faster convergence rate as the size of the volume element increases,
but to the expense of increased CPU time and memory requirements to solve the finite element problem. This
decrease of performances is due to the potentially large set of constraint equations that has to be imposed.
Figure V.8.2: Periodic boundary condition type.
The checkbox Use custom boundary conditions allow to customize the choice of boundary conditions in the
2nd and 3rd axis. Periodic boundary conditions are only enforced for the 1st axis. This option allow to impose
boundary conditions which are close to reality for RVE for which separation scale is not completely ensured
like for woven or DFC.
Note 1: Periodic BC are only available for periodic geometries.
Note 2: When exporting a periodic model with periodic boundary conditions to Abaqus/CAE, the model
needs to be created through part instances, i.e., the cae_no_parts_input_file=ON should not appear in the
environment file.
In-plane periodic BC
Using this option will impose periodic boundary conditions only on the faces in the x and y direction. The
faces in the z direction remains free. This boundary coundition is particularly suited to multi-layer RVE that
decribes all the thickness of the structure that we want to represent.
V.8.2. Mechanical loading 643
V.8.2 Mechanical loading
Various mechanical loadings are available in Digimat-FE, to simulate different types of macroscopic strain
fields. These are to be specified in the Mechanical loading tab.
This tab contains the following parameter fields:
• Boundary conditions type: this item contains two drop-down menus. The first one defines the way
the boundary condition defined in the second is to be applied in the finite element model of the volume
element. The available types of boundary condition types are:
– Dirichlet BC
– Mixed BC
– Periodic BC
• Loading source:
– Digimat: the loading type will be one of the predefined loading type available in Digimat.
– Macro FE model : the loading applied on the RVE will be the loading seen by one integration
point of a “macro” finite element model. The exact strain tensor seen by this integration point
and its detailed history will be applied on the RVE.
– Automatic properties evaluation: the user chooses the properties to be evaluated automatically
by the solver. The solver applies then automatically the required loadings and post processing in
order to compute the requested RVE properties.
Loading type
If the selected loading source is Digimat, the available loading types are the following ones:
• UNIAXIAL_1 : a macroscopic uniaxial strain state in the 1-direction is imposed (macroscopic uniaxial
stress state).
Figure V.8.3: Illustration of the UNIAXIAL_1 loading.
A user defined uniaxial loading direction can be specified through the Theta and Phi parameters from the
Load direction menu of the Mechanical loading tab (see Figure V.8.4). In that case, the output fields
will be thrown into the loading axis system, so the index 1 will always refer to the loading direction. The
default UNIAXIAL_1 loading direction corresponds to the configuration Theta= 90◦ and Phi= 0◦ . This
loading direction can only be applied for periodic boundary conditions and in-plane boundary conditions (with
Theta= 90◦ fixed). The implementation follows the description given in Delannay et al. (2009).
Figure V.8.4: Illustration of the user defined UNIAXIAL_1 loading.
stress state).
stress state).
• BIAXIAL1_2 : a macroscopic biaxial strain state in the 1- and 2-directions is imposed (macroscopic
biaxial stress state).
Figure V.8.5: Illustration of the BIAXIAL1_2 loading.
• BIAXIAL1_3 : a macroscopic biaxial strain state in the 1- and 3-directions is imposed (macroscopic
biaxial stress state).
• SHEAR_12 : a macroscopic shear strain in the (1,2)-plane is imposed.
• SHEAR_1 3 : a macroscopic shear strain in the (1,3)-plane is imposed.

• SHEAR_23 : a macroscopic shear strain in the (2,3)-plane is imposed.
• BIAXIAL1_12 : a combination of a macroscopic uniaxial strain state in the 1-direction and a macro-
scopic shear state in the (1,2)-plane is imposed.
Figure V.8.6: Illustration of the SHEAR_12 loading.
Figure V.8.7: Illustration of the BIAXIAL1_1 2 loading.
• BIAXIAL1_1 3 : a combination of a macroscopic uniaxial strain state in the 1-direction and a macro-
• BIAXIAL2 _12 : a combination of a macroscopic uniaxial strain state in the 2-direction and a macro-
• BIAXIAL2 _1 3 : a combination of a macroscopic uniaxial strain state in the 2-direction and a macro-
• GENERAL_2D: a macroscopic 2D strain state is imposed in the (1,2)-plane. The user should specify
three strain components.
• GENERAL_3D: a macroscopic 3D strain state is imposed on the boundaries of the RVE. The user
should specify six strain components.
With the GENERAL_2D and GENERAL_3D loadings, it is possible to deactivate some of the components
(by clicking on the green check mark in the first column). A deactivated component is equivalent to a free
stress condition (for that component). For a GENERAL_3D loading, a pure stress free state can be obtained
by deactivating the six component. This can be useful for instance for computing the CTE of the RVE
(combined to a temperature loading in a thermomechanical analysis).
Loading history types
In addition to specifying the loading type, the user should specify the history type the loading follows. The
history type defines the time factor f (t) that scales the loading
L(σ|ε, t) = f (t)L(σ|ε). (V.8.1)
The available options are Monotonic, Cyclic, User-defined .
Monotonic
A ramp loading is applied from the initial loading value to the peak value specified for each loading component.
Cyclic
Cyclic loadings consist of successive loading/unloading from the initial loading value to its peak and negative
peak value. Figure V.8.8 illustrates this.
Figure V.8.8: Illustration of the cyclic loading. Time factor versus time.
User-defined loading scheme

The user-defined loading scheme allows the user to specify specific time factor f (t) that will scale the loading
as the simulation goes on. This very general history type allows the user to apply complex loadings on the
boundaries of the RVE. This type of loading history is illustrated in the Example section.
To define a user-defined loading scheme, a functionshould be created and assigned to the loading type. This
function can be applied relatively or absolutely, i.e., to scale or override the defined loading peak values.
This loading scheme offers a wide range of loading possibilities. For instance, cyclic loadings with different
strain rates for each cycle can be defined, as well as loadings with different peak values in different directions
having their peak values reached at different time instants.
For the UNIAXIAL_1 strain loading type, the time factor is applied on the 11-component of the macroscopic
strain tensor, ε11 (t).
For the SHEAR_12 strain loading type, the time factor is applied on the 12-component of the macroscopic
strain, ε12 (t).
For biaxial loadings, the time factor is applied on each specified component of the macroscopic strain tensor.
Different time factors can be applied to the strain tensor components. In this case, the ratio between the
strain tensor components is not constant as the loading is applied.
Note that for each x-y function, the initial and final times must be the same. Also, the initial strain/stress/tem-
perature will be computed directly from the loading function at time t = 0.
For the GENERAL_2D strain loading type, a time factor should be applied to each component (1,2)-plane
component of the macroscopic strain tensor, ε11 (t), ε22 (t) and ε12 (t).
For the GENERAL_3D strain loading type, a time factor should be applied to all six components of the
macroscopic strain tensor.
Parameters
Depending on the selected macroscopic strain state to be applied on the volume element and on the history
type, some parameters need to be input.
• Initial strain: this text field defines the initial macroscopic strain, i.e., at the beginning of the loading
step. This is set to zero.
• Peak strain: this text field defines the final macroscopic strain, i.e., at the end of the loading step, the
loading step being of ramp type. This strain corresponds to the first loading direction; that is, the tensile
or the compressive strain in the case of a biaxial loading. In the case of a shear loading, it corresponds
to two times the shear strain, as engineering strains are being used.
• Loading rate: the user can choose between a quasi-static loading (the default choice) or defining a
loading strain rate.
• Cyclic loading parameters: if the user selects a cyclic loading, the parameters number of cycles can
be input (the default number is 3).
• User-defined parameters: if a user-defined loading scheme is selected, then functions need to be
created or imported, and each strain component (depending on the loading type) should have its own
history function. This function can be applied absolutely or relatively, i.e., to scale or override the defined
loading peak values. For the latter option, a factor should be specified for each strain component (0.03
is the default value).
Finite strain: If the peak value of one of the strain components exceeds 0.05, a warning message appears
advising to check the finite strain box in the Advanced parameters tab of the Solution tree. If finite strain is
selected, the strain components should be interpreted as follows:
• for UNIAXIAL_1 , UNIAXIAL_2 , UNIAXIAL_3 , BIAXIAL1_2 and BIAXIAL1_3 loadings, the
strain components correspond to logarithmic strains.
• for all other loadings, the strain components define the corresponding deformation gradient.
• in the case of a shear loading, the given components 2 ∗ Eij = γ correspond to two times the associated
deformation gradient components such that the deformation gradient is symmetric, i.e., Fij = Fji =
γ/2.
Loading source
Loading source can be Digimat, Macro FE model or Automatic properties evaluation.

When Digimat is used as the loading source, the applied loading is one of the predefined loading listed above,
and all parameters must be defined by the user (initial strains, peak strains,etc.).
When a Macro FE model is used as the loading source, the applied loading and loading history is the one
seen by a given integration point in a macro FE model. This capability is currently limited to Abaqus and
Marc results (*.odb, *.t16). The user has to select an ODB file, then specify:
• a part name,
• an element id,
• an integration point number (if 0 is specified, the average strain over the element will be used).
If the Abaqus ODB file contains information for several steps, it is possible to extract strain history over all
steps or over one specific step.
The detailed strain history seen by this integration point is extracted and Digimat uses this information to
define a GENERAL_2D (in case of a shell model) or GENERAL_3D (in case of a solid model) loading with
the right values and history.
The loading from macro FE model has some limitations:
• It is only available for mechanical loadings

• For FE models involving large strains, Digimat will use the logarithmic strain measure available in the
ODB or t16 file, but will interpret it as if it was an engineering strain.
If the loading source is Automatic properties evaluation, the user has to select the RVE properties to be
evaluated by the solver. This functionality consists in performing all the workflow from the generation of the
RVE until the post processing of the obtained results in order to compute the engineering constants required
by the user. This feature involves all the the microstructures supported by Digimat-FE (classical, continuous
fibers, woven...). The wokflow to be adopted is the following :
• The RVE is defined by respecting the classical workflow : defining materials, phases, microstructure...
• At the loading level, the user chooses Automatic properties evaluation and selects the properties to
be evaluated automatically. Figure V.8.9 illustrates this.
• The analysis is submitted. In this framework, two options are possible : Submit the analysis from the
main analysis page or from the solution tree if the RVE and its meshing are already generated.
• All the workflow is automatically run until the post processing. The required results are stored in the
eng file.
• When all the RVE properties are evaluated, it’s possible to export the obtained engineering constants
to a given FEA code (Marc, Abaqus and Ansys are available). Figure V.8.10 illustrates this.
During the evaluation of the RVE properties, an orthotropic symmetry of the RVE is supposed. The user
should respect this assumption during the RVE definition. Warning messages are displayed if an inconsistency
is detected. In addition, a mismatch is computed for each evaluated engineering constant. This mismatch
evaluates the gap to the orthotropic symmetry. If the mismatch exceeds 5% for a given computed property, a
warning message is displayed at the end of the analysis. The computed mismatches are reported in the eng
file as well as in the GUI in the engineering constants window.
Figure V.8.9: Automatic properties evaluation in the case of a mechanical loading.
Figure V.8.10: Export mechanical properties to a FEA code after their automatic evaluation.
V.8.3 Thermo-mechanical loading
When performing a thermo-mechanical analysis, a temperature variation can be defined in addition to the
mechanical loading (see Figure V.8.11). The user is offered with two options.
• Either apply that temperature variation concurrently with mechanical loading. In that case, the
temperature is varied at the same time the mechanical loading is applied.
• Or apply that temperature variation prior to mechanical loading. In that case, the temperature is
varied under stress free mechanical boundary conditions in a first step. The mechanical loading is then
applied in a second step while the temperature is kept constant and equal to the temperature reached
by the end of the first step. The strains imposed in that second step add up to the strains resulting
from the first step. The purpose of that modeling option is to generate manufacturing-induced stresses
in the first step.
Figure V.8.11: Definition of the thermal loading in thermo-mechanical analyses.
Three parameters need to be specified to fully define the temperature variation.

• Name: this text field defines the name of the loading. It cannot contain any blank space or quote. As
the name uniquely identifies the loading, it should be different from the mechanical loading name.
• Initial temperature: this text field defines the initial temperature of the analysis, i.e., the temperature
at the beginning of the loading step.
• Final temperature: this text field defines the final temperature of the analysis, i.e., the temperature
at the end of the loading step, the loading step being of ramp type.
In the loading section, Automatic properties evaluation option allows the user to simply select the required
thermo-mechanical properties to be evaluated. The solver applies then automatically the required loadings and
post processing in order to compute the requested RVE properties. For more information about Automatic
properties evaluation option, please refer to section V.8.2.
V.8.4. Thermal loading 651
V.8.4 Thermal loading
For thermal analyses, a temperature gradient needs to be applied across the volume element. Such a loading
is uniaxial and can be applied following the three boundary condition types that were previously defined.
• Name: this text field defines the name of the loading. It cannot contain any blank space or quote.
– Dirichlet BC
– Mixed BC
– Periodic BC
while the loading types are the following ones:
• UNIAXIAL_1 : a macroscopic temperature gradient in the 1-direction is imposed;

• UNIAXIAL_2 : a macroscopic temperature gradient in the 2-direction is imposed;
• UNIAXIAL_3 : a macroscopic temperature gradient in the 3-direction is imposed.
• Temperature gradient: this parameter section allows the definition of the temperature gradient range
to be covered during the loading step.
– Initial temperature gradient: this text field defines the initial temperature gradient, i.e., the
temperature gradient at the beginning of the loading step. The default value is 0.
– Peak temperature gradient: this text field defines the final temperature gradient, i.e., the
temperature gradient at the end of the loading step. The default value is 1.
thermal properties to be evaluated. The solver applies then automatically the required loadings and post
processing in order to compute the requested RVE properties. For more information about Automatic properties
evaluation option, please refer to section V.8.2.
V.8.5 Electrical loading
For electrical analyses, a voltage gradient needs to be applied across the volume element. Such a loading is
uniaxial and can be applied following the three boundary condition types that were previously defined.
• Name: this text field defines the name of the loading. It cannot contain any blank space or quote.
– Dirichlet BC
– Mixed BC
– Periodic BC
while the loading types are the following ones:
• UNIAXIAL_1 : a macroscopic voltage gradient in the 1-direction is imposed;

• UNIAXIAL_2 : a macroscopic voltage gradient in the 2-direction is imposed;
• UNIAXIAL_3 : a macroscopic voltage gradient in the 3-direction is imposed.
• Voltage gradient: this parameter section allows the definition of the voltage gradient range to be
covered during the loading step.
– Initial voltage gradient: this text field defines the initial voltage gradient, i.e., the voltage gradient
at the beginning of the loading step. The default value is 0.
– Peak voltage gradient: this text field defines the final voltage gradient, i.e., the voltage gradient
at the end of the loading step. The default value is 1.
electrical properties to be evaluated. The solver applies then automatically the required loadings and post
processing in order to compute the requested RVE properties. For more information about Automatic properties
evaluation option, please refer to section V.8.2.
Digimat-FE V.9
Solution
V.9.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 654

V.9.2 Solution with solvers using internal Digimat-FE mesher . . . . . . . . . . . . . 654
Solver parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 654
General capabilities per FEA solver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 657
Parallel computation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 658
V.9.3 Solution with external FE preprocessor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 658
Export to Abaqus/CAE (Deprecated option) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 658
Export to ANSYS Workbench (Deprecated option) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 660
V.9.4 Solution with the Digimat-FE FFT solver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 661
653
654 Digimat-FE Solution
V.9.1 Introduction
The content of the Solution tree item depends on the FE solver that was selected at Analysis level. It controls
the way in which the Digimat-FE model is tranformed into a ready to run FE analysis for the selected solver.
V.9.2 Solution with solvers using internal Digimat-FE mesher
Using the internal Digimat-FE mesher allows to seamlessly generate the FE solver input file, submit the FE
job, monitor its evolution and, for internal FE solver and Marc, visualize the results inside Digimat once it
completes.
Solver parameters
• Number of CPUs: Number of CPUs to use for the FE job.

• Maximum memory (MB): Maximum amount of memory allowed for the FE solver. Default is 3/4 of
the total memory.
• Solver type:
– Direct: very reliable but requires a large amount of memory.
– CASI iterative (only for internal FE solver and Marc): allows solution of large systems at a reduced
computational cost, requires a convergence tolerance
– Iterative: alternative to CASI iterative solver
• FE solver job name and working directory: controls where the FE job will be started.
The solver jobs table (see Figure V.9.1) lists all FE jobs created during the current session. By right-clicking on
a row of the table, a context menu allows performing various operations on the selected job (Run, Terminate,
View solver input, ...). The content of the solver status file for the selected job is displayed in the text area
below the table.
A second tab gives access to advanced parameters:
• Write field output every n increment: controls the frequency at which results are stored in the FE
output file. Default is to save results at each increment, but this can lead to large output files for
analyses involving a large number of increments.
• Iterative solver tolerance: only visible if the iterative solver or CASI iterative solver has been selected
• Finite strain: activates the large strain option of the FE solver. Automatically checked on as soon as
hyperelastic material are used.
• Viscosity for cohesive failure stabilization: adds an artificial viscosity to cohesive zone models to
help convergence. Only available when using strand debonding in DFC materials with Abaqus/Standard
and set to 0.01 by default.
Figure V.9.2 shows indicative memory consumptions of the solution phase, for different applications, when
using the internal FE solver with iterative solver.
V.9.2. Solution with solvers using internal Digimat-FE mesher 655
Figure V.9.1: FE solution: solver job creation and monitoring.

Figure V.9.2: FE solution: Representative memory consumption for conforming and voxel mesh when using the internal
FE solver with iterative solver.
V.9.2. Solution with solvers using internal Digimat-FE mesher 657
General capabilities per FEA solver
Different set of capabilities are available depending on the selected FEA solver. This section gives a brief
overview of the capabilities as a function of the FEA solver. For a complete view on the limitations, please
also refer to the XV.4 section.
Internal FE solver and Marc

• Not all Digimat material models are available. The available material models are the following:
– (Thermo-)Elastic: isotropic, transversely isotropic
– Hyperelastic: Mooney-Rivlin, neo-Hookean, Ogden
– Cohesive zone and breaking glue model for inclusion–matrix debonding
– Breaking glue model for strand debonding in DFC materials
– (Thermo-)Elastoplastic: J2 -plasticity with isotropic hardening
– Elastoviscoplastic: J2 -plasticity with isotropic hardening and initial yield Norton creep law
– Fourier: isotropic, transversely isotropic
– Ohm: isotropic, transversely isotropic
– Crystal Plasticity : FCC, BCC, HCP
• Beam inclusions are not supported.
• Parallel execution of a job involving strand debonding in DFC materials is not supported
Internal FFT solver

– Elastic: isotropic, transversely isotropic
– Hyperelastic: neo-Hookean
– Elastoplastic: J2 -plasticity with isotropic hardening
– Elastoviscoplastic: J2 -plasticity with isotropic hardening and initial yield Norton creep law
– Crystal Plasticity : FCC, BCC, HCP
• Only 3D RVE are supported
• Foam, Fabrics and Lattice microstructure are not supported
• Failure is not supported
• Porosity are not supported
• Only Periodic boundary conditions are supported
Abaqus/Standard
– (Thermo-)Hyperelastic: Mooney-Rivlin, neo-Hookean, Ogden
– Cohesive zone model for both inclusion–matrix and strand debonding
– Elastoviscoplastic: J2 -plasticity with isotropic hardening and all creep models except Time law
ANSYS Classic
– Cohesive zone model (except for strand debonding in DFC materials)
• Cohesive inter-phase are not supported.
LS-Dyna
– Breaking glue model (except for strand debonding in DFC materials)
– Elastoviscoplastic: J2 -plasticity with isotropic hardening and all creep models except Time law
• Electrical analyses are not supported.
• Thermal analyses: only mixed boundary conditions are supported.
• 2D RVE analyses: only mixed boundary conditions are supported.
• Thermomechanical analyses: it is not possible to define material parameter temperature dependencies
on Young modulus and Poisson’s ratio.
• Cohesive inter-phase are not supported.
Parallel computation
To launch parallel computation under Windows with internal FE solver and when not using the CASI iter-
ative solver, Intel-MPI must be installed and running. This operation is done automatically during Digimat
installation.
V.9.3 Solution with external FE preprocessor
Once the Digimat-FE geometry generation has completed, it can be exported to FE pre-processor and then a
FE solver. The entire Digimat-FE analysis is exported to the selected CAE package, including the definition
of the material parameters, the loadings and the boundary conditions. The export is done via a (set of) script
which will pilot the CAE package during the meshing procedure and the FE model definition.
This function is code-dependent. The two following FE codes are supported:
• Abaqus/CAE
• ANSYS Workbench
Export to Abaqus/CAE (Deprecated option)
The export to Abaqus/CAE uses a Python script and a zip file, in which all the geometry files generated by
Digimat-FE are stored. This Python script can be rerun in Abaqus/CAE by using the Run Script command.
The only important point is to always have the zip file containing the geometry in the same directory as the
script file.
Certain restrictions apply when exporting to Abaqus/CAE:
• Abaqus/CAE, version 6.7 or higher, has to be used to run the Python script.
V.9.3. Solution with external FE preprocessor 659
• Not all Digimat material models are available as some do not have an equivalent model implement in
Abaqus. Note that for each unsupported material, an empty material is created in Abaqus/CAE, along
with a solid section. The user can then easily complete the material definition. The available material
models are the following:
– (Thermo-)Hyperelastic: Mooney-Rivlin, neo-Hookean, Ogden, Storakers
– Cohesive zone model
– Viscoelastic
– Elastoviscoplastic: J2 -plasticity with isotropic hardening and current yield Norton creep law
• Cohesive zone models are only supported in Abaqus/CAE 6.9 and higher.
Figure V.9.3: Settings for exporting a Digimat-FE analysis to Abaqus/CAE

Export to ANSYS Workbench (Deprecated option)
The export is done via a Python script and a Javascript, which will pilot ANSYS Workbench, ANSYS Me-
chanical and, in some cases, ANSYS DesignModeler. In order to rerun the import process from within ANSYS
Workbench, the Digimat menu of ANSYS Workbench has to be used. This menu will be added to ANSYS
Workbench during the Digimat installation.
Certain restrictions apply when exporting to ANSYS Workbench:
• Not all Digimat material models are available. For each unsupported material, an empty material will
be created in ANSYS Workbench. The available material models are the following:
– (Thermo-)elastic: isotropic, transversely isotropic
– Hyperelastic: Mooney-Rivlin, neo-Hookean, Ogden
– Cohesive zone model
– Elastoplastic: J2 -plasticity with isotropic hardening
• Cohesive zone model are supported, but only using the cohesive interface in Digimat-FE (i.e., cohesive
inter-phase are not supported with ANSYS Workbench)
Various export settings are also available to tweak the analysis:
• Time stepping parameters.

• Output requests: fine tuning the output time points in the odb.
• Miscellaneous settings (for export to Abaqus/CAE):
– Activate NLGEOM flag.
• Miscellaneous settings (for export to ANSYS Workbench):
– Activate large deformation
V.9.4. Solution with the Digimat-FE FFT solver 661
Figure V.9.4: Settings for exporting a Digimat-FE analysis to ANSYS Workbench
V.9.4 Solution with the Digimat-FE FFT solver

When using the FFT solver, the Solution tab allows to set the same parameters as when using the internal
FE solver (see Figure V.9.1):
• the time stepping parameters

• the number of CPUs
• the job name
• the working directory
Notice that Digimat-FE reports an estimation of the memory required to run the job as a function of the
requested number of grid points.
When creating a new job, an input file for the FFT solver is written as a .mat file. It is much shorter that an
input file for the FE-based solvers. It is accompanied with .xmt_txt files describing the inclusion geometry.
Digimat-FE may be run through the GUI or on the command line as follows:
DIGIMAT_INSTALL_DIR\DigimatFE\exec\digimatFFT.exe Analysis1.mat
The Advanced parameters tab has several parameters that are unique to the FFT solver (see Figure V.9.5)..
• Output requests control
– the fields to export (strain, stress and state-dependent variables);
– whether to compute an initial stiffness matrix;
– the number of classes for the histograms representing the field distribution;
– locations of additional plane where the results must be exported. By default, the results are
exported on the RVE faces at every time steps and on the complete RVE volume at the last time
step. This option allows to requests additional planes where the results must be exported at every
time step.
• Iterative solver controls and Loading equilibrium controls allow the advanced user to fine-tune the
trade-off between speed and accuracy.
Figure V.9.5: Advanced parameters for the FFT solver

Digimat-FE V.10
Results
V.10.1 FE global post-processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 664

Post-processing tasks manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 665
Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 666
V.10.2 FE Field results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 667
V.10.3 FFT results post-processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 667
V.10.4 Plotting tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 669
Loading of analysis results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 669
Plotting of results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 669
Plotting of pole figure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 671
V.10.5 Percolation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 673
663
664 Digimat-FE Results
V.10.1 FE global post-processing
This section presents the Digimat-FE specific post-processing tools that are available to analyze the results of
Digimat-FE analyses (carried out with any solver).
The Abaqus results post-processing capability is officially supported for Abaqus 2020. ODB generated with
newer versions of Abaqus are not supported. ODB generated with older Abaqus versions will be converted.
The ANSYS results post-processing capability is officially supported for ANSYS 2020R1.
The Marc results post-processing capability is officially supported for ANSYS 2019 FP1.
Once the Digimat-FE analysis is successfully completed, an automatic plot of the macroscopic stress-strain
curve appears. In the case of a finite strain analysis, the strains correspond to logarithmic strains and the
stress to Cauchy stress.
The FE results post-processing tools can be accessed via right-clicking on the Plot n tree item in the Digi-
mat tree. The post-processing task manager offers to the user the possibility to perform the following
Figure V.10.1: The Plot Context Menu appears when right-clicking the Plot tree item.
post-processing tasks (Figure V.10.2):
• Volumetric mean (and standard deviation, on element sets);

• Arithmetic mean (and standard deviation, on node sets);
• Distribution (on element sets).
The miscellaneous task tab allows the following additional post-processing tasks:
• The volume of each element set;
• The centroid of each element set;
• The macroscopic stress-strain response: the default is nominal strains and stress. In the case of finite
strain analysis, the strains correspond to the logarithmic ones and the stress to Cauchy ones;
• The pole figures (for crystal plasticity materials).
These allow the user to generate different types of outputs that are particular to finite element homogenization
and not always available in common FE post-processors.
The section articulates as follows:
• Post-processing tasks manager;

• Tasks.
V.10.1. FE global post-processing 665
Post-processing tasks manager
Figure V.10.2 shows a screenshot of the post processing tasks manager. It is accessed via right-clicking on
the Plot n tree item (see Figure V.10.1). Note that the current analysis has to be a Digimat-FE analysis to be
able to access this functionality via right-clicking. This menu offers to the user the possibility to post-process
an internal solver result file (*.t16), an Abaqus result file (*.odb), an ANSYS result file (*.rst/*.rth) or a Marc
result file (*.t16). Please note that to post-process results from ANSYS, both the .db file and the .rst or .rth
file are needed.
Selecting one of those two actions will trigger a first run of the post-processor, during which the CAE result
file will be queried for all available node and element sets, and field outputs. These results are then displayed
for selection in the post-processing tasks manager window.
The post-processing is organized in tasks. One task is the association of several units:
• from the Tasks column: one type of output (Volumetric mean, Arithmetic mean or Distribution);
• from the Sets column: one node set or element set (the set on which to compute the desired output);
• from the Field outputs column: one field output;
• for non-scalar field outputs: one Invariant or one particular Component of the selected field output;
• from the Steps/Frames column: the step and the frames at which the task should be carried out, as
well as the configuration that should be used.
Once a task is defined, it can be added to the Requested tasks list (right-most column) by clicking the Add
button. As many tasks as necessary can be defined. When all desired tasks are created, click on the Run
post processor button to start the computation of all required tasks.
The time necessary to compute all the requested tasks is of course dependent on the number of tasks and the
size of the mesh, but also on the number of frames in the CAE result file.
One output file (ASCII) will be generated for each post processing task. A log file is also created. All
these files are then gathered in a single zip archive, than can be loaded in the GUI. The file name of this
archive is based on the CAE result file name and the date and time of the post processing. For example :
odbName_PostPro_date_time.zip.
When the post-processor has completed the tasks, the results can be loaded in the Digimat GUI with a right
click on a plot item in the tree and by selecting Load FE results in the Plot context menu. By default, they
are automatically loaded in the GUI.
The post-processing operations can be tracked via the ascii files created in the working directory. There can
be found:
• input decks for the post-processor;

• log files;
• results files.
Figure V.10.2: Post processing tasks manager.
Tasks
Three specific tasks can be carried out via Digimat-FE post-processor:
• Volumetric mean: this task can only be performed on field outputs available at integration points, thus
on element sets. The volumetric mean of a field is computed as follows:
P
v i Fi
F̄ = Pi , (V.10.1)
i vi
where i denotes the index of the elements belonging to the considered element set and v i the volume
of element i. The standard deviation is also computed with the volumetric mean.
Remark: Volumetric mean may give counter-intuitive results when the RVE is discontinuous (e.g.
contains true voids or interface with debonding); see Subsection XV.4.6.
• Arithmetic mean: this task can only be performed on field outputs available at the nodes, thus on node
sets. The standard deviation is also computed with the arithmetic mean. This type of task is only
available with Abaqus .odb result files.
• Distribution: this task can only be performed on field outputs available at integration points, thus on
element sets. It computes the statistical distribution, i.e., the probability, of the specified field output
component on the selected element set. An example is presented in Figure V.10.3, where the von Mises
stress distribution in a RVE is computed. The x-axis represents the selected field output, i.e., the von
Mises stress, while the y-axis is the probability, or the percentage of the considered element set, at a
given x-value. In this example, 0.5% of the element set volume exhibits a von Mises stress of 300 MPa.
Remark: The odb post-processing utility uses the libraries of Abaqus 6.9. As a consequence, all odb results
files obtained with a version older than 6.9 are automatically upgraded to the 6.9 format. The upgraded odb
files are placed in the working directory. The original results file is not affected by this operation.
V.10.2. FE Field results 667
Figure V.10.3: von Mises stress distribution curve computed by the ODB post-processing tool of Digimat-FE.
V.10.2 FE Field results
Field results item in the Digimat tree allows opening and visualizing finite element analysis results within
Digimat-FE. It is available for finite elements analyses carried out with the built in Digimat-FE solver, Digimat-
FE FFT solver and with Marc.
V.10.3 FFT results post-processing

This section presents the Digimat-FE local post-processing tools after the FFT solver was used.
All the results are gathered in a single binary file, named after the .mat analysis file and with a .dfr extension.
When the analysis is run from the GUI, this result file is automatically loaded after a successful completion.
A .dfr file may be loaded from the disk via right-clicking on the Plot n tree item in the Digimat tree. None
of the post-processing tasks previously explained in Section V.10.1 are required when using the FFT solver.
The outputs to be post-processed are
• these tensor fields:
in small strains the strain and the stress,
in large strains the deformation gradient, the Cauchy-Green strain, the Green-Lagrange strain, the
nominal strain, the logarithmic strain, the nominal stress, the Cauchy stress, the Kirchhoff stress,
• some invariants of these tensors,
• the state-dependent variables.
They are available as
• average fields over the RVE and over each phase,
• distribution (histograms of the probability density) over the RVE and over each phase,
• 3D plots.
For the 3D plots, the results are available by default on the RVE faces at every time steps and on the complete
RVE volume at the last time step. They may also be requested inside the RVE at every time steps on custom
x, y, or z planes (see Section V.9.4).
If requested, the elastic stiffness is also available.

V.10.4. Plotting tools 669
V.10.4 Plotting tools
This section presents the actions that can be carried out from the plot item of the Digimat tree, where the
outputs of a Digimat analysis can be plotted.
Figure V.10.4 presents the graphical user interface (GUI) of Digimat, in particular the plot area.
Figure V.10.4: Graphical user interface of Digimat - Plot area.
Loading of analysis results
Before plotting any curves in the plot area, the results to be plotted need to be loaded in the GUI. By right-
clicking on the Plot n item in the Digimat tree, where n is the plot number, the results named after the
current analysis and job name can be loaded via the Load results option, provided they are available in the
current working directory.
Note that, if several analyses are defined in the GUI, the job name is common for all the analyses defined in
the Digimat tree, contrary to the analysis name which is used to differentiate them. The current analysis is
the one that was last selected.
If no results are available in the working directory, the results post-processing tool should first be run.
Plotting of results
Once the results have been loaded in the GUI, the different output variables are available for plotting, one
versus another. To access the plotting tools, the Plot n tree item should be selected. These are displayed at
the bottom of the viewport, see Figure V.10.5. They allow the user to perform several operations which are
described hereafter. Some of them are not fully illustrated, as carrying them out is straightforward.
Figure V.10.5: Plotting tools
Create plot
This button opens a window containing the list of the results loaded in the GUI, see Figure V.10.6. The
user should then select which data, X Data, should plotted against which other data, Y Data, or which
distribution curve should be displayed.
Note that the interface window should be exited before carrying out any further manipulation in the plot area.
This can be done via the Dismiss button.
Edit plot
This interface window, quite similar to the Create plot one, allows the removal and the replacement of the
currently displayed curve in the plot area.
Import data
Tabular data stored in ascii files can be imported in the GUI for plotting in the plot area, provided the columns
are separated either via a blank space or a tabulation.
Load result file

This option allows the loading of a Digimat-FE result file, whether it is results at the composite level or at the
phase level.
Edit properties
Clicking the Edit properties button opens an interface window enabling the modification of the legend entries
of each curve, as well as their symbol and their color.
• Range
Allows a manual specification of the lower and upper bounds for the x and y axes.
• Legend
Opening the Legend dialog gives access to a few options on the legend display: its size, its position,
whether it should be displayed or not, boxed or not.
• General options
Gives access to the line thickness, the symbol size and the choice between logarithmic and decimal axes.
• Axis-Title
This option dialog allows the user to customize the axis labels as well as the plot title and the number
of ticks along each axis.
Export plot
Exporting the plot area to either an image file or an ascii file can be done via the Export plot functionality.
V.10.4. Plotting tools 671
Figure V.10.6: Create plot interface window.
Plotting of pole figure
Digimat-FE allows the computation and the visualisation of pole figures based on a set of crystallographic
orientations. (100), (110) and (111) pole figures are computed for cubic symmetries while (101̄0), (0001),
(101̄1) and (112̄0) are generated for hexagonal symmetry. Note that Digimat-FE uses the x-convention for
HCP. The alignment of the Cartesian coordinate system used for calculations with the crystal coordinate
system (the Bravais lattice) is a well-known issue as different conventions (x and y) are used in commercial
texture software. The data are so shifted of 30 degrees from one convention to another. The inversion of the
(112̄0) and (101̄0) pole figures generally indicates such kind of issue.
Tools are displayed at the top of the viewport, see Figure V.10.7. They allow to perform several operations
which are described hereafter.
Figure V.10.7: Graphical user interface of Digimat - Texture plot area.
Import
Once hit, this button will display a pop-up menu in order to select the crystal symmetry. Ascii files containing
euler angles (Bunge convention) can then be imported in the user interface. Zip files containing the initial
and final textures can also be used. After selecting the file, the orientations are automatically extracted and
the pole figures computed.
Import
This button exports the orientations used to generate the current pole figure to a specified file path.
Snapshot
This button takes a snapshot of the current pole figure and stores it in the clipboard.
V.10.5. Percolation 673
V.10.5 Percolation
The phenomenon of percolation is observed mainly for electrical conduction in composites. In a composite
reinforced with conductive inclusions, it has been observed experimentally that the electrical conductivity of
the composite depends strongly on the volume fraction of inclusion. For low volume fractions, the electrical
conductivity of the composite is governed mainly by the conductivity of the matrix. For higher volume fraction
of inclusions, it is observed that the conductivity of the composites increases by several orders of magnitude
when the volume fraction reaches a given threshold. This threshold is called the percolation threshold and
is dependent on the shape of the inclusion and the materials. This large increase in the conductivity of the
composite is caused by the appearance of “percolating clusters”, groups of inclusions that are in electrical
contact (i.e., touching each other, or close enough so that electron can jump from one inclusion to the next
– electron tunneling). This is illustrated in Figure V.10.8.
When the volume fraction of inclusion is low, each inclusion is isolated, far away from the neighboring inclusions.
When the volume fraction becomes closer to the percolation threshold, more inclusions are becoming in
electrical contact. When a set of contacting inclusions spans from one side of the RVE to the other, it causes
a switch from the “classical” behavior (i.e., matrix dominated) to a parallel connection, where the connection
with the largest conductivity dominates.
Figure V.10.8: Composite below the percolation threshold (left), and above (right). The percolating clusters are drawn
in black, Olivero and Radford (1998).
The percolation threshold of a given microstructure, though not a strictly defined constant value, shows
remarkably small variations from one realization to another.
The main parameters influencing the percolation threshold are the shape of the inclusions (i.e., aspect ratio)
and their orientation. For a constant aspect ratio, a more random orientation will give a lower percolation
threshold. For a constant orientation, a larger aspect ratio will give a lower percolation threshold.
The percolation modeling in Digimat-FE is based on the concept of “percolation distance”. Two inclusions are
supposed to be in electrical contact when they are closer than this percolation distance. A value of 0 can be
specified for the percolation threshold, in that case, two inclusions will be considered to be in electrical contact
if they are interpenetrating (either directly, or through their coatings). If coatings are used, the distance is
computed between the outside faces of the coatings.
Percolation modeling is available at two different, mutually exclusive, levels:
• Global percolation, defined at the analysis level: in that case, all inclusion phases are supposed to take
part in the percolation process. It is thus indicated only if all inclusion phases are conductive.
• Local percolation, defined at the phase level: in that case, only the inclusions belonging to one specific
phase will be considered for the detection of the percolation threshold.
The following options are used in Digimat-FE for modeling of percolation at phase level, see Figure V.10.9.
These options are the same whether the percolation is global (analysis level) or local (phase level).
Figure V.10.9: Percolation parameters in Digimat-FE
• Track percolation onset: Check for existence of percolating clusters each time a new inclusion is
added. If percolating clusters are found, the following type of information is printed in the log file
# Digimat FE INFO : Percolated cluster found in phase Phase2

Percolation direction : Y,Z.
Number of percolated clusters : 2
Number of inclusions in percolated clusters : 15, 9.
• Stop at percolation: Stops the RVE generation as soon as the first percolating cluster is detected. If
this option is checked, the Track percolation onset option is automatically checked as well.
• Check final percolation: This option can be used when there is no need to check for percolation every
time a new inclusion is added, but only at the end of the RVE generation.
• Percolation distance: Absolute distance. If two inclusions are closer than the percolation distance,
they will be considered as connected.
Using percolation modeling options involves some overhead in the RVE generation process, because for each
inclusion, Digimat-FE has to keep track of all the inclusions it is intersecting with.
A typical use of the percolation modeling capability of Digimat-FE is to reverse engineer the two parameters
of the percolation model available in Digimat-MF. One can run several microstructure generations for a given
composite to get a good idea of the value of the percolation threshold, then move to Abaqus and run FE
simulations at different volume fractions (most of them around and above percolation threshold). Values for
electrical conductivities at various volume fractions can be extracted from these FE simulations and serve as
input to reverse engineer the percolation exponent used in the Digimat-MF model of percolation.
V.10.5. Percolation 675
Figure V.10.10: RVE with percolating cluster (shown in black). Interpenetration is allowed between coatings only.
Figure V.10.11: Computed percolation threshold for various fiber aspect ratio. For each value of aspect ratio, 30
Digimat-FE simulations have been run in order to get an idea of the variance.

V.1.1 General Description: 522 Digimat-FE

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522 Digimat-FE Overview

V.1.1 General description

For more information

• On known limitations of Digimat-FE: please refer to appendix XV.4

• On guidelines for the usage of Digimat-FE: please refer to appendix XVI.3

• For examples & tutorials: please check appendix XVII.4

Figure V.1.2: Digimat-FE GUI: generation of representative volume elements (RVEs).

V.1.2 Pre and post-processing

Digimat-FE is Digimat graphical interface for pre- and post-processing allowing:

• The generation of a representative volume element (RVE) of the material microstructure;

V.1.3 Interfaces to external FEA

Digimat-FE to Marc, Abaqus/Standard, Ansys Classic and LS-Dyna

Digimat-FE to Abaqus/CAE (Deprecated options)

This interface enables the users of Digimat-FE and Abaqus/CAE to automatically:

• Export the RVE geometry and import it in Abaqus/CAE;

Digimat-FE to ANSYS Workbench (Deprecated options)

• Export the RVE geometry and import it in ANSYS Workbench;

• Apply the appropriate boundary conditions;

V.1.4 Fast Fourier transform-based solver

V.2.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 528

• the menu and icon bars at the top,

Figure V.2.1: Graphical user interface of Digimat.

Figure V.2.2: Icon bars.

To run a Digimat-FE analysis, the user must:

• volumetric mean operation on the RVE sets,

Figure V.2.3: Plot context menu.

• the definition of functions,

Lower size bound – upper size bound probability

• DefaultJobName_Analysis1.log: Log file of digimatFE.exe, it contains a lot of useful information about

∗ JobName_AnalysisName_PhaseName_orientation.txt: Text file with the orientation of each

V.2.3 Command line

A full example of a command line run under Windows:

• ABAQUS_Directory (only if Abaqus is going to be used as the FE solver)

V.3.1 Analyses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538

Figure V.3.1: General parameters for a Digimat-FE analysis.

V.4.1 Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 542

which are only available in Digimat-FE .

Generalized Drucker-Prager plasticity

Generalized Thermo Drucker-Prager

σ = C : ( − p ) + β(T ) such as β(T ) = −C : th (T ), (V.4.2)

th (T ) = {α(T ) [T − Tref ] − α(Tini ) [Tini − Tref ]} 1, (V.4.3)

Name Symbol Dimensions - M,L,T,θ,I SI units

Table V.4.1: Parameter names, symbols, dimensions and SI units.

F = Fel Fp = R? Uel Fp . (V.4.4)

• The Asaro-Needleman hardening law (Asaro and Needleman, 1985)

Name Symbol Dimensions - M,L,T,θ,I SI units

Initial hardening modulus h0 ML-1 T-2 Pa = N/m2

Saturation hardening modulus hS ML-1 T-2 Pa = N/m2

Critical resolved shear stress τ0 ML-1 T-2 Pa = N/m2

Saturation shear stress τS ML-1 T-2 Pa = N/m2

Reference strain rate γ̇0 T−1 s−1

Strain rate sensitivity m 1 -

Table V.4.2: Parameter names, symbols, dimensions and SI units.

111 < 110 > systems

Table V.4.3: FCC slip systems

110 < 111 > systems

211 < 111 > systems

Table V.4.4: BCC slip systems: part I

321 < 111 > systems

Table V.4.5: BCC slip systems: part II

Second order prismatic systems

Pyramidal <c+a> systems

σ = C : ( − p ) + β(T ) such as β(T ) = −C : th (T ), (V.4.2)

th (T ) = {α(T ) [T − Tref ] − α(Tini ) [Tini − Tref ]} 1, (V.4.3)