Computational Materials Science 13 (1998) 42±55

Micromechanical modelling of functionally graded materials

1
Michael M. Gasik
Helsinki University of Technology, Vuorimiehentie 2 K, P.O. Box 6200, FIN-2015 Hut, Finland

Abstract
The problems in design of functionally graded materials (FGMs) are outlined and their modelling approaches are
reviewed. Due to the concentrational or structural gradients in FGMs, the ``normal'' approximations and models, used
for traditional composites, are not directly applicable to graded materials. The goal is to show the eciency of the
simplest models to provide the most accurate estimates of the properties and even to make simple elasto-plastic analysis
of FGM components without vast computations by FEMs or an array of empirical ®tting parameters. The development
of a micromechanical model for FGMs with an arbitrary non-linear 3D-distribution of phases and corresponding
properties is presented and the model application is discussed in comparison with other similar approaches. The model
allows the prediction of basic properties of a 3-D FGM, computations of thermal stresses, and, in some limits, it may be
used for pre-design evaluation of dynamic strain/stress distribution and inelastic behaviour. Since all equations of the
model are expressed in a simple analytical form, the model is rather ¯exible for computations and may be easily im-
plemented. As an example, results for W±Cu FGM are presented for application of upper divertor plates for the in-
ternational experimental thermonuclear reactor (ITER). Ó 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

PACS: 81.05.Mh; 81.40.Jj; 82.20.Wt; 62.20.Dc

Keywords: Graded materials; Micromechanical model; Stress analysis; Tungsten; Copper

1. Introduction of speci®c problems in materials design and ap-

The trends in advanced materials R&D have for
many years shown the struggle to obtain reliable
homogeneous materials such as metal alloys, ce-
ramics, etc., striving that no signi®cant di€erences
in material properties will be revealed in the bulk
volume of ®nal components. New developments in
the hypersonic space plane (HySP) and hypersonic
velocity civil transport (HSCT), modern space
projects like new shuttle concept (HYFLEX), next
generation power systems etc., have created a lot
1
Tel.: +358 9 451 2775; fax: +358 9 451 2799; e-mail:
mgasik@pop.hut.®
0927-0256/98/$ ± see front matter Ó 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 9 2 7 - 0 2 5 6 ( 9 8 ) 0 0 0 4 4 - 5
plications. The development of the space plane
faces a huge number of technical problems, in
particular in the ®eld of a superior thermally re-
sistant material [1±5]. Usually ceramic composites,
combining a ceramic matrix and a dispersion
phase, are designed to use superior and sometimes
synergetic characteristics of each of these constit-
uent materials. They possess an evenly dispersed
reinforcement phase, and the resulting properties
are rather uniform. For the space environment it
will fail to withstand re-entry of the HSCT plane
due to high thermal stresses generated by extreme
temperature gradients.
For the purpose of attaining a superior stress
relaxation, materials possessing superior oxidation
 M.M. Gasik / Computational Materials Science 13 (1998) 42±55
and thermal shock resistances, and other related
characteristics, are highly desirable [3±5]. These
goals have become very common in many other
®elds of modern engineering, such as electronics,
communication systems, tool design, and other
special applications [5]. Such arti®cial materials
will be inhomogeneous and will be characterised
(in the most common case) by a non-linear, graded
3D-distribution of phases and corresponding
properties [1,3,5]. They are distinguished from
conventionally isotropic materials by gradients of
composition, phase distribution, porosity, texture,
and related properties (hardness, density, resis-
tance, thermal conductivity, Young's modulus
etc.). The FGM is characterised not only by the
presence and appearance of compositional or
other gradients but also by the sophisticated be-
haviour of FGM component in comparison with
conventional (macroscopically uniform) materials
[1,7]. The initial idea of a graded material was to
combine the incompatible properties of heat re-
sistance and toughness with low internal thermal
stress, by producing a compositionally graded
structure of distinct ceramic and metal phases,
having in mind the development of a rocket engine
with long-term durability [3±5]. This concept was
broadened to include a combination of dissimilar
materials without having explicit boundaries for
creating of materials with new functions. The lat-
est developments of theoretical principles of
FGMs, a variety of their processing techniques
and applications are summarised in several publi-
cations [1±7], to which the reader should refer for
more details. In this work, the main principles of
FGM structure modelling, justi®cation of several
model approaches, tungsten±copper FGM prop-
erties evaluation with respect to their application
in a fusion reactor are discussed.
2. Peculiarities of modelling for functional graded
materials
2.1. Some basic features of FGMs
In the simplest case, the structure of a material
is represented or replaced by the model-like system
of a matrix with embedded particles or grains. For
43
such composites the microstructural ®elds are as-
sumed to be homogeneous, whereas for FGMs
they are heterogeneous. Due to the gradients in
FGMs, the ``normal'' approximations and models,
used for traditional composites, are not directly
applicable to FGM. The situation becomes even
more complicated, when an FGM has gradients on
several levels, i.e. macro-, micro- and nano-scale,
where defects such as vacancies and dislocations
start to play an important role in the transfer
processes and mechanical behaviour of the speci-
men [5].
The main methods actually used are based on
the ®nite element approach (FEM) and its varia-
tions. Most numerical schemes use discrete distri-
bution models, not all of them taking into account
possible non-isotropic phase distribution. When
this distribution is not isotropic but complies with
a certain law, the same observation of measure-
ment process yields di€erent results depending on
the way the sample is placed. It is obvious that the
resources necessary to de®ne, conduct, and in-
terpret such an analysis, are prohibitive for com-
plex structures [5,8]. Another opportunity would
be in a modelling of the FGM structure and in a
deducing of ``structure-property'' relationships,
e.g. as micromechanical model.
At the moment there is no general theory for
FGMs, and only a few publications have been
contributed to this, except for fracture mechanics
and some related areas [9]. Recently a combined
theoretical approach based on the equation of
motion [10] and gauge transformation of Yang±
Mills ®elds [11] has been developed for a descrip-
tion of the mechanical (stress, strain) and tem-
perature ®elds in a ``graded media''. On the
contrary to existing semi-empirical or solely nu-
merical calculations, these approaches allow exact
computation of crystalline solids with dislocations,
phase grain boundaries etc., by means of a single
theoretical concept. The most essential feature of
this approach is in exclusion of the singularities of
the derivatives from consideration, since there are
no singularities in the local domain by de®nition,
and the integration removes singularities between
the domains [12]. The approach suggested could be
extended to ®elds of any nature, such as mechan-
ical, concentrational etc., whereas the form of
44 M.M. Gasik / Computational Materials Science 13 (1998) 42±55
equations and the method of their solution remain
invariant for the kind of problem considered.
2.2. Review of modelling approaches
Despite the relative simplicity and smartness of
the Yang±Mills ®elds application to FGMs, there
are yet not enough data for application of this
theory to engineering needs. That is why addi-
tional models are used more extensively with FEM
calculations to reveal the peculiarities of FGMs.
The majority of these models are employed for a
two-phase composite structure with certain parti-
cle size distribution [5,13]. The experience of these
models' application has shown that most of them
have been employed mainly to estimate the e€ec-
tive properties of the materials regardless of the
unique FGM microstructure. Zuiker [13] has re-
cently analysed the limitations of such FGM
models and some of these models are considered
here further in the same or similar form to ensure
the compatibility of results, discussed below.
In this work only these methods that use stan-
dard micromechanical techniques are analysed.
Since almost all of them are based on the repre-
sentative volume cell or element de®nition, the
conclusions drawn are limited to those cases,
where this de®nition is valid [5,13]. Thus the goal is
to show the eciency of the simplest models to
provide the most accurate estimates of the prop-
erties and even to make simple elasto-plastic
Table 1
Micromechanical models used for composites and FGMs properties evaluation
Model or method name Algorithm
Reuss rule Explicit
Voigt rule Explicit
Sasaki±Kerner a Explicit
Mori±Tanaka a Explicit
Wakashima±Tsukamoto a Explicit
Hirano (fuzzy logic) a Explicit
Coherent potential approximation (CPA) Implicit
Self-consistent method (SCM) Semi-explicit
Method of cells Numerical
Tamura Explicit
Levin (for thermal expansion only) a Explicit
a
Gasik±Ueda (present work) Explicit
a
Methods that are analysed in this study.
analysis of FGM components without vast com-
putations by FEMs or an array of the empirical
®tting parameters.
The models, which have been developed for
composites, are employed also for FGMs (Ta-
ble 1), although with some modi®cations (a de-
tailed survey of these models is presented in [13]).
The rules of mixture (Voigt and Reuss) are in-
cluded for reference, whereas the method of cells,
the Tamura model [24] and the more complicated
CPA and SCM are left aside. These last two
methods have been shown to be almost identical,
but they require more calculations than other
ones. The Tamura model uses actually a linear rule
of mixtures, introducing one empirical ®tting pa-
rameter known as ``stress-to-strain transfer'' [5,13],
r1 ÿ r2
qˆ : …1†
e1 ÿ e2
Estimates for q ˆ 0 correspond to Reuss rule
and with q ˆ 1 to the Voigt rule, being invariant
to the consideration of which phase is matrix and
which is particulate. Certainly, Tamura method is
highly dependent on values of q and one has to
take into account that FGMs usually should have
a range of these values, varying through the
thickness of the material [5]. Even when a homo-
geneous (non-graded) composite is considered, the
values of q change along with the degree of plastic
deformation. Dietrich e.a. [26] have shown that for
an Ag±58%Ni composite this ratio varies from
1.7 to 0.4 for eeff ˆ 0.05±0.4.
Fitting parameters Refs.
0 [5,15]
0 [5,15]
0 [13,17]
0 [13,18]
0 [13,18,19]
>1±3 [13,20]
0 [21]
0 [13,22]
0 [23]
1 [13,24]
0 [14]
0 [5,15]
 M.M. Gasik / Computational Materials Science 13 (1998) 42±55
Levin's approach listed in Table 1 is used for
evaluation of the thermal expansion coecient
only, providing that the bulk modulus was deter-
mined by some other means [13,14],
1 of (i, j, k)th LRVE of the sample is described by a
K
ÿ K12
a ˆ a2 ‡ …a1 ÿ a2 † ; …2†
1
K1
ÿ K12
where K refers to the bulk modulus of a composite
of two phases 1 and 2. All other models were taken
for calculations of the properties of two materials,
namely SiC±C composites and W±Cu pseudoal-
loys. Calculations for SiC±C composites were done
by Zuiker [13] and here it was repeated to make
sure that models parameters and equations pro-
duce compatible results. Hence only results of W±
Cu materials are presented in this work.
3. FGM micromechanical model
The micromechanical model, which was espe-
cially developed for FGMs, relies on the main
assumption that a small representative volume el-
ement is sucient to predict the bulk properties of
FGMs [5,8,13,15]. Each sub-cell is assigned a
corresponding function of volume concentration
of the second (particulate) phase v2 (x, y, z). The
distribution of the second phase for the structure is
de®ned by any function, where the v2 changes from
0 to 1. This function should satisfy the boundary
conditions S°(r) ˆ v°2 (x, y, z) for values {x; y; z} 2
{0; 1}. The sub-cell dimensions should be chosen
to be small enough so that the structure inside it
may be considered as locally orthotropic. In this
case the sub-cells became local representative vol-
ume elements (LRVE). These cubic LRVEs are
used to de®ne stress and strain components and
match actual local properties [8,15]. The material
characteristics are stated by relating the stress
components on the LRVE's surfaces to their de-
formation. However, due to the anisotropic nature
of FGMs, combined with their limited availability
in forms suitable for evaluation of mechanical
properties and stresses along appropriate axes, the
determination of these parameters experimentally
is very dicult [5,8].
For FGMs an additional assumption was made
by Gasik and Lilius [15]. The second phase is
45
treated as ``inclusions'', and they are transformed
into a cube in each LRVE with the equivalent
volume, equal to the volume concentration of this
phase in this LRVE. In the 3-D space the position
set of relative coordinates (x, y, z)ijk . Therefore,
one can stipulate any real continuous concentra-
tion function of these coordinates, resulting in a
unique set of iso-concentration surfaces. The
complete set of the resulting equations and their
justi®cation are presented elsewhere [5,15]. There
also are published results of use of such model for
estimation of properties in di€erent composites
(FGM and non-FGM) and their analysis [16,27].
The values of moduli, thermal conductivity etc.,
change from one sub-cell to another according to
the volume concentration of the second phase v2 .
For instance, the original equation for the elastic
modulus derived from the geometry of the LRVE
and the stress±strain relationship was shown as
[5,15],
 q 
3 1
Eii ˆ E1 1 ÿ m22 1 ÿ p  ;
1 ÿ 3 m2 …1 ÿ E1 =E2 †
…3†
where i represents one of the coordinate axes (X, Y
or Z). This equation (as well as other model
equations) can be simpli®ed to,
 
m2 1
Eii ˆ E1 1 ‡ p ; FE ˆ …4†
FE ÿ 3 m2 1 ÿ E1 =E2
in which form it was used in this work to reduce
computation time. From the last equation one
may clearly see that model equations have no
singularities over the whole range of v2 2 [0; 1].
When two phases have equal moduli (E1 ˆ E2 ),
FE ® 1 , but the module Eii ® E1 ( ˆ E2 ).
Anisotropy in the properties will appear after
gathering (assembling) the LRVEs into one block
to obtain the FGM specimen body [5]. The mic-
romechanical model uses the transforming of the
sub-cells to the LRVE, which could thereafter be
applied for computation and analysis. In addition,
one can calculate thermal di€usion, speci®c heat,
density, and other parameters in each LRVE. The
last step is the accumulation of the LRVE in the
whole FGM-specimen, taking into account boun-
dary conditions and continuity of the solid [5,15].
46 M.M. Gasik / Computational Materials Science 13 (1998) 42±55
The comparison of the calculation results was
made with the models mentioned above ®rst for a
``composite'' of the tungsten±copper system with
zero gradient in composition. Thus, the properties
presented here are related to a homogeneous two-
phase W±Cu composite. The initial parameters for
W- and Cu-phases have been taken from di€erent
sources [15] and assessed (Table 2) for room tem-
perature (although calculations can be made at
any temperature, as shown below). It was already
shown, that this model satis®es the Hashin±
Shtrikman limits [5,15] as well as ``dilute com-
posite'' approximations [13,16].
4. Model application example: W±Cu FGMs
The calculations of the properties of FGM and
its elasto-plastic stress analysis have been made for
the tungsten±copper system, which is known to be
free of mutual chemical interactions [15]. Besides
basic properties of composites and graded speci-
mens, the elasto-plastic analysis was made for a
speci®c application of this W±Cu FGM in an ex-
perimental fusion reactor. In the International
Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER),
plasma facing components (PFCs) will be sub-
jected to a high heat ¯ux. Therefore, the protection
of these components is a very important issue for
the design of ITER especially the divertor plates
that will be subject to high heat loads. The divertor
is a ¯uid cooled component of a fusion reactor,
and there are a number of factors which a€ect the
heat transfer capabilities of the divertor: heat ¯ux
distribution, tube materials, orientation. The de-
velopment of actively cooled components for the
Table 2
Properties of tungsten and copper used for computation [5,15]
Elastic modulus E [GPa]
Shear modulus G [GPa]
Poisson's ratio l [)], at 20°C
Bulk modulus K [GPa], at 20°C
Thermal conductivity k [W mÿ1 Kÿ1 ]
Speci®c heat cp [J kgÿ1 Kÿ1 ], at 20°C
Linear CTE a á 106 [Kÿ1 ]
Density q [g cmÿ3 ], at 20°C
divertor of a fusion reactor that can withstand the
high heat ¯ux during transient and normal oper-
ation of the reactor is one of the key issues for the
development of the fusion reactor [16].
Although the divertor concept is mentioned the
most here, the same approach is valid for ``®rst
wall'' materials and assemblies, which are em-
ployed in the fusion reactor. PFCs su€er from
many other factors such as erosion, runaway
electrons, neutron damage etc., but in the present
study mainly the behaviour of W±Cu divertor
plates under thermal load and their optimisation
by FGM concept are presented. Using the micro-
mechanical model, the optimal elastic response of
a divertor plate was calculated. After that, inelastic
behaviour was introduced into the model, and the
resulting stress relaxation maps were calculated
[16].
4.1. Initial parameters and properties computation:
comparison with other models
Basic properties were calculated in comparison
with other models for a W±Cu composite, varying
the volume fraction of tungsten from 0 to 1. Here
no gradient in concentration was applied [5]. The
initial data for tungsten and copper were taken as
shown in Table 2. Besides, temperature depen-
dence of these properties was taken into account in
further stress analysis.
The examples of calculation of bulk modulus,
CTE and shear modulus are presented in Figs. 1±
3. The present model (Gasik±Ueda) is counted
twice: once for tungsten particulates embedded in
copper matrix, and second for copper particu-
lates in tungsten (marked as ``inverted''). For a
Tungsten Copper
411.4 ) 0.044 t 128 ) 0.0294 t
159.5 ) 0.0184 t 47
0.285 0.364
325 161
162.29 ) 0.07 t + 0.0002 t2 401.42 ) 0.0625 t
138 385
4.6 16.81 + 0.005t ) d4 á 10ÿ6 t
19.3 8.96
 M.M. Gasik / Computational Materials Science 13 (1998) 42±55 47

Fig. 1. Bulk modulus [GPa] of W±Cu composite vs. volume fraction of tungsten at room temperature.

Fig. 2. Shear modulus [GPa] of W±Cu composite vs. volume fraction of tungsten at room temperature.

comparison, the Sasaki±Kerner approach for the
CTE (Fig. 3) was also calculated as ``inverted''
one. Certainly, for small volume fraction of tung-
sten ``inverted'' case is unlikely to take place, but
an interesting feature is that the inverted Sasaki±
Kerner CTE values are lower for tungsten matrix
than for copper one.
The results show that the suggested microme-
chanical model [15] gives values of bulk and shear
moduli higher than Sasaki±Kerner model and
48 M.M. Gasik / Computational Materials Science 13 (1998) 42±55
Fig. 3. Linear thermal expansion coecient [Kÿ1 ] of W±Cu composite vs. volume fraction of tungsten at room temperature.
closer to Hirano's (fuzzy logic) approach, how-
ever, without any arti®cial ®tting parameters. The
CTE values show a larger di€erence between these
models. ``Normal'' micromechanical calculations
are close to those of Voigt±Turner±Levin method
[5,13±15], whereas ``inverted'' calculations give
values varying between the Sasaki±Kerner [13,17]
and Mori±Tanaka [18] values. The ``inverted''
phase layout (copper grains in tungsten) gives
higher CTE values at lower tungsten volume
fractions, coincides with Mori±Tanaka at m2 ˆ 0.5,
and approaches the inverted Sasaki±Kerner values
at m2 ® 1. It should be noted, that the present
model makes direct CTE calculations from the
micromechanical principles, without relying on the
values of the bulk modulus of a composite, as in all
other methods. It is possible to show that errors,
appearing during the bulk modulus computations,
may accumulate or vice versa, cancel each other
when CTE is evaluated.
Therefore, the model [15] can be used for the
correct prediction of properties of two-phase par-
ticulate composites with the use of simple equa-
tions on the contrary with other known models. In
principle, the model allows nesting of the phases
on di€erent levels. For example, it was applied for
a W±Cu±Diamond composite (a diamond tool for
rock drilling applications), where the W±Cu com-
posite (tungsten grain size 1±3 lm) forms a matrix
[5]. For this ``composite matrix'', micromechanical
equations were applied ®rst to calculate properties
with a small LRVE size. These results were further
employed on the second stage for the ``matrix-di-
amonds'' composite (mean diamonds size 250±400
lm) with coarser LRVE grid size [5,11,27].
4.2. FGM properties calculation
As was shown earlier [13,15], there is no other
model, which could be directly applied to com-
putation of FGM, using standard micromechani-
cal approach. None of these models [13] in their
original form is sensitive to the anisotropy of
material. On the contrary, application of the de-
veloped model [15] is possible to FGM with an
arbitrary 3-D distribution function. This is clearly
seen, for instance, when di€erent functions of a
concentrational gradient (Table 3) are used for
thermal conductivity calculations [15] (Fig. 4). It
was also shown [5] that for phases with larger
di€erences in thermal conductivity (e.g. zirconia±
nickel FGM [4,5,27]) these di€erences in X-, Y-, Z-
 M.M. Gasik / Computational Materials Science 13 (1998) 42±55
Table 3
Concentration distribution functions for W±Cu FGMs [5,15]
Name Function
Linear 1 ) X
Ellipse 1 ) (aX á X2 + aY á Y2 + aZ á Z2 )1=2
Cylindrical 1 ) a á (X2 + Y2 )1=2
3rd order 1 ) (aX á X3 + aYX á X á Y + aZY á Y2 á Z)
Values of the parameters (ai ) are chosen in such a way that all
materials have a volume fraction of tungsten equal to 0.5.
Fig. 4. Anisotropy of thermal conductivity [W mÿ1 Kÿ1 ] along
X-, Y- and Z-axes for four types of concentration functions [5],
Table 3.
components of thermal conductivity may lead to
rather complicated heat ¯ow and resulting crack-
ing due to thermal stresses. This e€ect can be
hardly calculated with other models (Table 1).
On the basis of the modelling equation like (4),
a FGM plate of the W±Cu system with a 3-D
gradient of tungsten concentration was considered
for modelling of properties and further elastic
analysis [16,27]. The initial conditions and the ge-
ometry were taken as for a divertor plate, sub-
jected to cyclic heat load of 15 MW mÿ2 [16]
(Fig. 5). In the case of a plasma disruption event
the hot plasma is dumped along the magnetic ®eld
lines to the divertor plates in a very short interval
of time, causing a sudden evaporation of a thin
layer of the divertor plate material. However, most
of the ablated material would be re-deposited back
to the surface. These erosion and re-deposition
processes during plasma±material interaction are
major concerns in a design of PFCs [16]. The de-
49
Fig. 5. The model of a divertor plate (dimensions in mm) with
tungsten coating, W±Cu FGM layer, and copper substrate. VW
± tungsten concentration function [16], the whole concept by
Toshiba Corp. [25].
position of heat by neutrons and impinging high
energy particles on the divertor is also non-uni-
form. This uneven heat deposition will result in an
uneven temperature distribution. This would lead
to an exchange of radiation heat between the
various parts of the reactor interior that could
have signi®cant e€ect on the divertor plates
[16,25]. In the present work, however, only a pure
thermal load in one direction was considered due
to a lack of experimental information about tem-
perature distribution in divertors. Here and below
calculated stresses are assumed to be stresses far
from the edges, unless specially stated.
4.3. Elastic stress analysis
Before making elastic stress analysis of FGM,
the one-dimensional Fourier equation has been
solved for a prescribed gradient function (Fig. 5),
to get the quasi-static temperature distribution
along with the gradient of tungsten concentration.
Obviously, the variation of power parameter p
(Fig. 5) will result in di€erent maximal tempera-
ture on the tungsten surface at ®xed temperature
(20°C) on the ``cold'' side [16,25]. This distribution
was used to re-calculate the mechanical properties
of tungsten and copper in LRVEs with the equa-
tions in Table 2.
The elastic response of the W±Cu FGM for di-
vertor plate conditions was modelled by applying
conventional plane strain equilibrium conditions
50 M.M. Gasik / Computational Materials Science 13 (1998) 42±55

as well as the continuity of the body [5,15,27]. In rout;m

A&B …x; y; z†
every LRVE the stress is assumed to consist of m
contributions from the ``internal'' and ``external'' El;n6 ˆm …x; y; z†
ˆ   p p
stresses. The internal stresses, related to LRVE EA …x;y;z†
1 ÿ 1 ÿ EB …x;y;z†
…1 ÿ 3 m22 †
3 m2
structure, are de®ned for matrix phase (A),  m 
r m m
 ext ‡ …e R ÿ e l;n6ˆm ;
† …7†
EA …x; y; z† ERM
rint
A …x; y; z† ˆ
1 ÿ lA …x; y; z†
0 1 rout;m
A …x; y; z† ˆ rout;m
A&B …x; y; z†
Z
T …x;y;z†    
B C EA …x; y; z† p
@ ‰a…x; y; z† ÿ aA …x; y; z†Š dT A;  1 ÿ 1ÿ
…1 ÿ 3 m2 † ;
EB …x; y; z†
T0
…8†
…5†
where superscripts l, m, n denote either coordinate
and ``complex'' phase (where both tungsten and (X, Y or Z), and subscript R the overall value (of
copper are present along the speci®c direction, modulus or strain) for the whole specimen in either
[15]) A&B, direction [27]. External stresses are anisotropic due
to the gradient of concentration m2 .
EA&B …x; y; z† The results of this elastic analysis are shown as
rint
A&B …x; y; z† ˆ
1 ÿ lA&B …x; y; z† contour plots of thermal stresses …rext ˆ 0† in the
0 1 divertor plate, where the anisotropy parameter ``p''
Z
T …x;y;z†
B C varies from 0.2 to 5 (Figs. 6 and 7). It is necessary
@ ‰a…x; y; z† ÿ aA&B …x; y; z†Š dT A: to note that calculated high elastic stresses (many
T0 times more than the yield limit) may really appear
…6† in the material, however, for a short time. The
authors [16,27,28] have shown that at the begin-
These stress components are orthotropic. Ex- ning of heat ¯ow through metal±ceramic FGMs
ternal stresses in the LRVE appear from the ex- after about 0.1 s very high compressive stresses
ternal loads …rext † and thermal strains mismatch: (1000±1800 MPa) are generated. They are ``relax-

Fig. 6. Elastic thermal stresses (MPa) in copper in a divertor plate (Fig. 5) along X- (left) and Y(Z)-axes (right) vs. plate thickness, mm,
and ``p'' value.
 M.M. Gasik / Computational Materials Science 13 (1998) 42±55
Fig. 7. Elastic thermal stresses (MPa) in tungsten in a divertor plate (Fig. 5) along X- (left) and Y(Z)-axes (right) vs. plate thickness,
mm, and ``p'' value.
ing'' after 100±300 s down to ``normal'' level of
about 400 MPa due to plastic yielding.
4.4. Elasto-plastic stress analysis
The next step in the application of the model
was in the elasto-plastic analysis of FGM plates.
First of all, several sources were used in order to
properly assess the data of yield stress and the
inelastic part of the stress±strain curve for pure
tungsten and copper [35±38]. It is necessary to say
that these data either have quite a large scatter (for
Cu) or just were not available at all (for W at low
temperatures). Thus, a compromise approxima-
tion of experimental data points and stress±strain
curves was made by the author (Table 4). The
equations of Table 4 should be applied with care ±
Table 4
Plastic parameters for tungsten and copper [16]
Tungsten (20±1100°C)
0.2% yield stress [MPa] 471.9 ) 56.225 ln(t)
Yield onset point [MPa] 282.2 ) 37. 468 ln(t)
Stress±strain relation:
ln (r[MPa]) ˆ ln [3251.9 ) 387.47 ln(t)] + 0.3195 ln(e)
The copper recrystallisation temperature was taken as 380°C.
51
they re¯ect more the tendency in properties and
their di€erences rather than some ``true'' experi-
mentally observed values. Furthermore, no creep
e€ects were considered and the whole model re-
mains quasi-static.
The yield onset point was de®ned for copper
and tungsten. When the acting stress exceed the
yield point, the plastic deformation equation is
used, otherwise simple elastic analysis (5±8) is as-
sumed to remain valid. There is little known about
the yield criteria for FGMs. Usually the von Mises
equivalent stress criterion is used, although it is
known to be not directly applied to anisotropic
materials. If the same stress is acting on several
constituents, some of them may yield and some
may not. The general solution of the yielding cri-
teria for a 3-D solid with an arbitrary anisotropy
Copper
447.17 ) 0.6857 t (<380°)
3770.1 exp()0.0096 t) (380±800°)
269.73 exp()0.0032 t)
7.934 ) 0.0042 t + [0.431 ) 0.0016 t + 4 á 10ÿ6 t2 ] ln(e) (<380°)
7.634 ) 0.0051 t + [0.816 ) 0.0024 t + 2 á 10ÿ6 t2 ] ln(e) (380±800°)
52 M.M. Gasik / Computational Materials Science 13 (1998) 42±55

usually cannot be analytically found. In the pres-
ent study, the simple stress component was as-
sumed to be the acting force for yielding of the
speci®c phase. If yielding occurs, the LRVE grid is
re-calculated with the accumulation of resulting
inelastic strains.
This procedure was ®rst applied to FGM di-
vertor manufacturing process [25,29], where a
sintered tungsten skeleton is in®ltrated by molten
copper at 1100°C and after cooling is brazed to the
copper substrate. The ``zero-stress'' temperature
hence was taken as 1083°C for the FGM (copper
solidi®cation) and 20°C for copper substrate. The
transient cool-down process was then calculated
and the resulting elastic and plastic strains and
stresses were calculated as stated above. The sec-
ond part of the analysis was in the application of
quasi-static heat ¯ow to a divertor (Fig. 5) and
repeating of the procedure once more with the new
temperature distribution and existing plastic de-
formations and stresses.
The stress relaxation due to plastic deformation
can be observed in Figs. 8 and 9, where plastic
stresses appear to be rather di€erent from those in

Fig. 8. Plastic thermal stresses (MPa) in Cu matrix (a, b) and Cu±W region (c, d) in a divertor plate (Fig. 5) along X- (a, c) and Y(Z)-
axes (b, d) vs. plate thickness (mm), and ``p'' value.
 M.M. Gasik / Computational Materials Science 13 (1998) 42±55
Fig. 9. Plastic thermal stresses (MPa) in tungsten in a divertor plate (Fig. 5) along X- (left) and Y(Z)-axes (right) vs. plate thickness
(mm), and ``p'' value.
elastic analysis (Figs. 6 and 7). One can see that an
FGM with a low anisotropy coecient (0.1±1)
provides similar thermal stresses over longer
thickness and therefore is more advantageous in
comparison with higher ``p'' values for this speci-
men geometry [16,25]. It gives also about 100 MPa
lower stress values for the copper substrate.
5. Discussion
The micromechanical model, which was devel-
oped for the prediction of the basic properties of
FGMs, seems to be useful for elastic and plastic
stress analysis of FGMs even for a very simple
formulation. The model satis®es the Hashin±
Shtrikman conditions and dilute approximations
conditions [13], unlike the majority of other
models. The equations are simple, explicit, and can
be solved without additional assumptions or arti-
®cial ®tting parameters. The computation process
is easily implemented in any software (e.g. Maple
V or MathCAD) in a symbolic form, so special
programming is not needed.
On the other hand, one has to consider any of
the micromechanical model limitations, when
speaking about elastic and even more plastic
analysis of such anisotropic materials. It is clear,
that additional experimental measurements of re-
sidual stresses and FEM analysis are necessary to
justify the model application in this case. Another
53
important limitation of the model lies in the par-
ticular microstructure of materials (particles, em-
bedded in a matrix). The model cannot be applied
for ®bre reinforced materials or particulates with
high aspect ratio. Certainly, for a given micro-
structure it is always possible to re-formulate the
basic equations [15], taking into account the ply
orientation, ®bre arrangement and phases' conti-
guity.
A special problem for micromechanical model-
ling of FGMs regardless of the kind of the model
applied consists of yielding criteria for FGMs [30±
32]. There are several attempts to compute yielding
on the free surface of FGMs, total yielding, plastic
deformation accumulation etc., but all the meth-
ods utilise either pure FEM or some kind of nu-
merical ®tting of FEM-results to certain geometry
of the test specimens, i.e. joints [30±32]. The edge
stresses also can be computed in a di€erent way.
Usually various forms of the Airy stress function
are used [30],
KR
rij …r; h† ˆ x fij …h† ‡ r0 fij0 …h†: …9†
…r=R†
Other studies suggest that Boussinesq stress
function [34],
  
2…1 ‡ l† cos h
rii …r; h† ˆ r0 h ÿ acos
p sin h ÿ R=r
…10†
54 M.M. Gasik / Computational Materials Science 13 (1998) 42±55
which is more simple, may be more advantageous
over Airy function [30] for edge stress computation
in multi-laminates and joints. The Boussinesq
function may be constructed in di€erent forms
depending on the coordinate system used and the
problem symmetry [34].
The next important issue of FGM modelling is
in crack propagation prediction and fracture
analysis [9]. The analytical solutions of stress in-
tensity factors and local stress ®elds near the crack
tip have been already established for di€erent
crack geometries although for uniform load con-
ditions [33] or for ``graded±non-graded'' interfaces
only [9]. The model gives values of a stress ®eld
tensor in every phase zone in each LRVE, and this
information may be applied when calculating the
energy release rate ahead of crack propagation
paths. This method, however, does require a sub-
stantial assessment with respect to FGM condi-
tions as for anisotropical bodies.
In the example of FGM divertors the model
was shown to allow calculation of residual thermal
stresses, when both elastic and plastic cases might
happen at the plasma disruption conditions in a
thermonuclear reactor. This provides valuable in-
formation for such components, where little
known about their working conditions and even
less is known about the optimal gradient function.
The general analysis con®rms that the usage of
FGM plates, like above, in divertors and ®rst wall-
materials allows reduction of thermal stresses and
improvement of life-cycle and reliability. With the
micromechanical model one may already pre-
screen various graded designs before making FEM
calculations or testing specimens. Despite the
several limitations, the FGM micromechanical
model is very useful for the evaluation of FGM
properties for components with simple geometry
[15].
Acknowledgements
The author greatly acknowledges the contribu-
tion of Prof. Sei Ueda (Tohoku University, Send-
ai, Japan) for introduction of elastic stress analysis
in to the model and valuable discussions about the
model development. The substantial part of this
work was supported by grants from the Ministry
of Education of Japan and the Japanese Society
for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).
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