Modeling of Thermo-Hydro-Viscoelastic Behavior of a Partially Saturated Ceramic Material During Drying

Abstract

A mathematical model to simulate the drying of a partially saturated ceramic material has been developed. The investigated problem involves coupling equations considering heat, mass, and mechanical aspects. Transport in unsaturated porous medium includes two mean mechanisms: convection for liquid and gases, and molecular diffusion in the gas mixture.

Viscoelastic rheology is applied by using the generalized Maxwell model in which the relaxation modulus depends on time and moisture content. The numerical resolution is performed to foresee the variation of moisture content, shrinkage, liquid pressure, gas pressure, temperature, and mechanical stresses during drying. The model was validated partially for porcelain material in classical convective drying. Simulation results showed the importance of using a viscoelastic model with two dependent variables in evaluating the developed mechanical stresses. The Von Mises criterion is used as a crack initiation criterion, which allows localizing the area of risk of the material's fracture.

Keywords:

• Convective drying
• Porcelain
• Unsaturated media
• Viscoelastic behavior
• Von Mises stresses

Notes

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