A unified energy approach to a class of micromechanics models for composite materials

Several micromechanics models for the determination of composite moduli are investigated in this paper, including the dilute solution, self-consistent method, generalized self-consistent method, and Mori-Tanaka's method. These micromechanical models have been developed by following quite different approaches and physical interpretations. It is shown that all the micromechanics models share a common ground, the generalized Budiansky's energy-equivalence framework. The difference among the various models is shown to be the way in which the average strain of the inclusion phase is evaluated. As a bonus of this theoretical development, the asymmetry suffered in Mori-Tanaka's method can be circumvented and the applicability of the generalized self-consistent method can be extended to materials containing microcracks, multiphase inclusions, non-spherical inclusions, or non-cylindrical inclusions. The relevance to the differential method, double-inclusion model, and Hashin-Shtrikman bounds is also discussed. The application of these micromechanics models to particulate-reinforced composites and microcracked solids is reviewed and some new results are presented.