Multi-phase ELAStic Aggregates (MELASA) software tool for modeling anisotropic elastic properties of lamellar composites

We introduce a new web-based tool called MELASA (Multi-phase ELAStic Aggregates), open-access available at melasa.cerit-sc.cz, for computations and visualizations of anisotropic elastic properties of lamellar (nano-)composites. MELASA implements a linear-elasticity method by Grimsditch and Nizzoli (1986), originally developed for superlattices of any symmetry. Our tool may be used for computation of anisotropic elastic properties of a specific type of periodically separated lamellar (nano-)composites using matrices of elastic stiffnesses of co-existing phases as an input.

Elastic properties are visualized in the form of directional dependencies of selected elastic characteristics (Young’s modulus and linear compressibility). MELASA further generalizes the Grimsditch–Nizzoli approach, which was originally formulated for only two phases, to multiple-phase composites. Additionally, our implementation allows for treating internal rotations of local coordination systems corresponding to the natural set of coordinates that match directional vectors of unit cell defining crystal lattice within the co-existing phases.