Enriched continuum for multi-scale transient diffusion coupled to mechanics

In this article, we present a computationally efficient homogenization technique for linear coupled diffusion–mechanics problems. It considers a linear chemo-mechanical material model at the fine scale, and relies on a full separation of scales between the time scales governing diffusion and mechanical phenomena, and a relaxed separation of scales for diffusion between the matrix and the inclusion. When the characteristic time scales associated with mass diffusion are large compared to those linked to the deformation, the mechanical problem can be considered to be quasi-static, and a full separation of scales can be assumed, whereas the diffusion problem remains transient. Using equivalence of the sum of virtual powers of internal and transient forces between the microscale and the macroscale, a homogenization framework is derived for the mass diffusion, while for the mechanical case, considering its quasi-static nature, the classical equivalence of the virtual work of internal forces is used instead. Model reduction is then applied at the microscale. Assuming a relaxed separation of scales for diffusion phenomena, the microscopic fields are split into steady-state and transient parts, for which distinct reduced bases are extracted, using static condensation for the steady-state part and the solution of an eigenvalue problem for the transient part. The model reduction at the microscale results in emergent macroscopic enriched field variables, evolution of which is described with a set of ordinary differential equations which are inexpensive to solve. The net result is a coupled diffusion–mechanics enriched continuum at the macroscale. Numerical examples are conducted for the cathode–electrolyte system characteristic of a lithium ion battery. The proposed reduced order homogenization method is shown to be able to capture the coupled behavior of this system, whereby high computational gains are obtained relative to a full computational homogenization method. © 2020, The Author(s).