UNIFIED ENERGY APPROACH TO A CLASS OF MICROMECHANICS MODELS FOR COMPOSITE-MATERIALS

Several micromechanics models for the determination of composite modul i are investigated in this paper, including the dilute solution, self- consistent method, generalized self-consistent method, and Mori-Tanaka 's method. These micromechanical models have been developed by followi ng quite different approaches and physical interpretations. It is show n that all the micromechanics models share a common ground, the genera lized Budiansky's energy-equivalence framework. The difference among t he various models is shown to be the way in which the average strain o f the inclusion phase is evaluated. As a bonus of this theoretical dev elopment, the asymmetry suffered in Mori-Tanaka's method can be circum vented and the applicability of the generalized self-consistent method can be extended to materials containing microcracks, multiphase inclu sions, non-spherical inclusions, or non-cylindrical inclusions. The re levance to the differential method, double-inclusion model, and Hashin -Shtrikman bounds is also discussed. The application of these micromec hanics models to particulate-reinforced composites and microcracked so lids is reviewed and some new results are presented.