Non-local effective relations for fibre-reinforced composites loaded by configuration-dependent body forces

In this paper, fibre-reinforced media are analysed. The distribution of the fibres is assumed random. A combination of deterministic and configuration -dependent body forces is considered. In this case, several non-local effec tive constitutive operators must be taken into account in order to define t he mean response of the material. For two phase composites, expressions for all these operators have been obtained and in the case of fibre-reinforced materials Hashin-Shtrikman type bounds are explicitly developed in the rea l and the Fourier space, Finally, a periodic distribution of fibres is stud ied as an example. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.