Physical Review B, VOl. 66, No. 22, 224110, December 2002

Average Elastic Fields and Scale-Dependent Overall Properties of Heterogeneous Micropolar Materials Containing Spherical and Cylindrical Inhomogeneities

P. Sharma
General Electric Corporate Research & Development
Niskayuna, New York, 12309

A. Dasgupta
CALCE Electronic Products and Systems Center
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742

Abstract:

Scale-dependent solutions are provided for the "average" elastic fields, when spherical and cylindrical inhomogeneities are embedded in an infinite micropolar medium. A mean-field homogenization technique is extended to a micropolar medium and the overall scale-dependent properties of micropolar composite are computed and compared with the classical solution. Unlike classical elastic solutions (which are scaleindependent), the apparent stiffness of isotropic micropolar composites increases as inhomogeneity size decreases, at a constant volume fraction. In transversely isotropic micropolar composites, a more complex orientation-dependent behavior is observed: the apparent microscale stiffness for transverse shear and axial extension increase with decreasing inhomogeneity size (as in the isotropic case), while the transverse bulk stiffness exhibits the opposite trend. The current work is expected to find application in the analysis of nanocomposites, biocomposites, and foam structures.

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