Different approaches for calculating the effective elastic properties in composite materials under imperfect contact adherence

The imperfect contact conditions can be created by chemical reactions between the fiber and matrix materials or man-made interface design, such as surface modification of reinforced phase by using coating in order to enhance wetting property or due to environment effects. Although the problem of elastic properties of the composite materials with imperfect fiber–matrix interface has been addressed in a large number of research studies, in this work, there is an investigation about three different approaches, which have specific mathematical formulations and unique characteristics. Thus, the results provided by Asymptotic Homogenization Method (AHM) with some specific considerations, which are assumed, are compared to Semi Analytic Method (SAM) and Representative Volume Element (RVE) approach solved by Finite Element Method (FEM). The differences between the three approaches are normally less than 1%. Also, the results obtained by the investigated approaches are compared to the experimental data and literature, addressing a discussion about limitations and potentials of each one.