A micromechanical model for interpenetrating multiphase composites

The dependence relation between the macroscopic effective property and the microstructure of interpenetrating multiphase composites is investigated in this paper. The effective elastic moduli of such composites cannot be calculated from conventional micromechanics methods based on Eshelby’s tensor because an interpenetrating phase cannot be extracted as dispersed inclusions. Employing the concept of connectivity, a micromechanical cell model is presented for estimating the effective elastic moduli of composites reinforced with either dispersed inclusions or interpenetrating networks. The model includes the main features of stress transfer of interpenetrating microstructures. The Mori–Tanaka method and the iso-stress and iso-strain assumptions are adopted in an appropriate manner of combination, rendering the calculation of effective moduli quite easy and accurate.