Analysis of a three-dimensional dielectric mixture with finite difference method

The present paper reports the results of a numerical analysis of electric fields in random dielectric materials. The effective permittivity of a three-dimensional (3-D) dielectric mixture is calculated by the finite difference method. The results show the distribution of the effective permittivity of a mixture with different random inclusion positionings. New empirical mixing models are created as least squares approximations to fit the collection of numerical results. The calculated permittivity distribution is also compared with theoretical mixture models, showing that in case of clustered inclusions, the Bruggeman model is quite reasonable. On the other hand, if the inclusions in the mixture are separate, the results are closer to the Maxwell-Garnett model.