Abstract: Samples of particle reinforced composite microstructures generated by material microstructure simulation software ProDesign, including a large number of Voronoi grains and ellipsoidal particles, are used to simulate real-composite material microstructures, to study the influence of anisotropy and locality on mechanical properties of the composite microstructures. Micro-stress numerical calculation of particle reinforced composite microstructures is achieved by secondary development of the commercial finite element software ABAQUS, and computer simulation experiments confirm that the mismatching of stiffness of the particles and the matrix material, and local anisotropy of the orientation of microstructure components, play a decisive role in the distribution of the composite material structural weaknesses. On the basis of the results, the numerical response of micromechanics of microstructure achieved by finite-element method is of great significance to identify “material structure weakness”, evaluate initiation and propagation of microcracks of microstructures for heterogeneous materials, predict material performance after material microstructure damaging, deduce the “virtual failure behavior” of microstructure.

Key words: Anisotropy, Material microstructure, Material structure weakness, Numerical simulation, Virtual failure