Effective elastic properties of particulate-reinforced compossite materials

A numerical approach for determination of the effective properties of particulate composite materials has been developed. A representative volume element (RVE) of the composite material is analyzed with help of the finite-element method. Uniform boundary displacements or tractions are applied on the boundaries of the RVE for introducing the known average strain in the RVE. Local stress and strain distributions in the RVE are calculated using the finite-element method. Different effective elastic constants can be calculated by averaging the local fields corresponding to different sets of boundary conditions. The present approach allows us to determine the effective properties of particle-reinforced composites with acceptable accuracy. The calculated effective properties of the composite are between the upper and lower Hashin—Shtrikman bounds. The results based on the present approach lead to higher stiffness of composites in comparison with analytical approaches.