MICROMECHANICAL BASED DAMAGE MODELS

In polymer physics and biomechanics the need for models based on micro-mechanics considerations is clear. In this talk we show that it is possible to study the behavior of disordered media constituted by considering at the microscale a bimodal distributions of elastic and breakable links with variable activation and fracture thresholds. Depending on the microscopic distribution properties, the material may be characterized by an unstable strain domain, which gives the possibilities of having homogeneous or localized damage. This simple idea delivers a theoretical scheme to describe many experimental effects observed at the microstructure and macroscopic scale in disordered materials like synthetic or biological polymers. Moreover, we discuss how these idea may fitting in the theory of continuum mechanics with multiple configurations.