A formulation of a fully three-dimensional unit cell model is presented for uniform general deformation at a point in a composite material. The unit cell model is constructed as a finite element discretization of the unit cube. General displacement periodicity boundary conditions are prescribed such that the cell may be considered as a representative volume element of material. As a particular application of the model, the problem of determining the least anisotropic periodic model of a particulate composite is considered, and comparisons are made with bounds for elastic two-phase composites possessing cubic symmetry.

Issue Section:
Technical Papers
Topics:
Composite materials, Particulate matter, Anisotropy, Boundary-value problems, Deformation, Displacement, Finite element analysis
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