IMPROVED BOUNDS ON THE CONDUCTIVITY OF COMPOSITES BY TRANSLATION IN AVARIATIONAL PRINCIPLE

The problem of combining different methods of deriving bounds on the c onductivity of composite materials is addressed. We combine the transl ation method and the Hashin-Shtrikman variational principle and apply the combined method to a composite where the two methods, separately, give bounds that partly improve on each other; an equiaxed polycrystal . As a result we get a lower bound which improves on all previously kn own bounds for this composite.