Homogenization modeling of thin-layer-type microstructures

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a homogenization method for the material behavior of two-phase composites characterized by a thin-layer-type microstructure. Such microstructures can be found for example in thermally-sprayed coating materials like WC/Fe in which the phase morphology takes the form of interpenetrating layers. The basic idea here is to idealize the thin-layered microstructure as a first-order laminate. Comparison of the methods with existing homogenization schemes as well as with the reference finite-element model for idealized composites demonstrates the advantage of the current approach for such microstructures. Further an extension of the approach to a variable interface orientation is presented. In the end the current method is compared to results based on FE-models of real micrographs.