Representative volume element size for elastic composites: A numerical study

Monte Carlo (MC) runs are employed to generate statistically independent realizations of a periodic elastic composite with a disordered unit cell made up of 8, 27, and 64 nonoverlapping identical spheres. In the limit of an infinite number of spheres in the disordered unit cell, this periodic composite obeys the Percus-Yevick hard-sphere statistics. By construction, the MC realizations studied have the same inclusion fraction. A constant-strain-tetrahedra displacement-based finite element code with an iterative solver is used to calculate the overall elastic constants of these periodic MC realizations. It appears that the scatter in the individual elastic constants already obtained with a few dozen spheres in the disordered unit cell is remarkably small and the averages obtained with varying numbers of spheres are practically stationary. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.