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Abstract Multi-scale mechanics of composite materials is the subject that studies mechanical properties of inhomogeneous materials by the means of multi-scale analysis. In recent years, significant progress has been achieved in micro- and nano-scale experimental techniques, and many new types of advanced materials with multiple phases and hierarchical structures have been proposed and even produced, which both greatly promote the development of multi-scale mechanics of composite materials. In order to present important approaches and current developments in the multi-scale analysis for mechanical properties of inhomogeneous materials, first, the classical and commonly-used theoretical approaches are reviewed in this paper from nano and micro scales to macro scale, and subsequently, the multi-scale computational methods are introduced for both heterogeneous continuum and discrete systems. In addition, some research examples are presented to show how to use the theoretical and computational multi-scale methods to analyze complex material systems, including the studies of authors’ group in nanocomposite materials, impact-resistant energy absorbing materials, network materials and hierarchical self-similar materials. Finally, some future study directions of multi-scale mechanics for inhomogeneous materials are prospected.
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Received: 14 November 2017
Published: 29 January 2018
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2018, Vol. 39 
