On the effect of interactions of inhomogeneities on the overall elastic and conductive properties

A simple method of estimating the effect of inhomogeneity interactions on the overall properties (elastic and conductive) is developed. It is formulated in terms of property contribution tensors that give the contribution of an inhomogeneity to the overall properties. The method can be viewed as further development of the approach of Rodin and Hwang (1991) and Rodin (1993) that generalized the method of analysis of crack interactions (Kachanov, 1987) to inhomogeneities. We also extend the method to the conductive properties. Considering the effect of interactions on the property contribution tensors on the example of pores we find that this effect is generally moderate, at most (even when pores touch one another) - in contrast with the effect on local fields. On example of two spheres, we compare the interaction effects on the elastic and the conductive properties, and discuss the impact of interactions on the cross-property connections. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.