Aspects of the computational testing of the mechanical properties of microheterogeneous material samples

In this paper we investigate topics related to the numerical simulation of the testing of mechanical responses of samples of microheterogeneous solid material. Consistent with what is produced in dispersion manufacturing methods, the microstructures considered are generated by randomly distributing aggregates of particulate material throughout an otherwise homogeneous matrix material. Therefore, the resulting microstructures are irregular and non-periodic. A primary problem in testing such materials is the fact that only finite-sized samples can be tested, leading to no single response, but a distribution of responses. In this work, a technique employing potential energy principles is presented to interpret the results of testing groups of samples. Three-dimensional numerical examples employing the finite element method are given to illustrate the overall analysis and computational testing process. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.