Estimation of effective elastic properties and interface stress concentrations in particulate composites by unit cell methods Original Research Article

Representative unit cell methods are employed for determining effective elastic properties of particulate composites and the state of stress around spherical inclusions due to uniaxial tensile loading. The elastic properties evaluated using axisymmetric and three-dimensional (3D) unit cells are compared with experimental data on glass-epoxy composites. The results show that the elastic constants predicted by the axisymmetric spherical unit cell match closely with the experimental data on glass-epoxy composites. Stress concentrations at the particle interface computed by the unit cell methods are compared with that obtained from three-phase model (TPM). At filler concentrations below 15 vol%, the stress state at the inclusion interface determined using unit cells agrees well with TPM. At higher filler concentrations, radial stresses predicted by the unit cells differ from each other and from that obtained with TPM.