Abstract
In this paper, the effect of arrangement of inclusions on the effective elastic modulus of composite materials is considered through examining a model, which has two groups of periodically arranged inclusions in a matrix. Here, two groups of inclusions A and B are considered, both having equally shaped equally arranged inclusions, which have the same elastic constant but different from the one of the matrix. Then, the position of group A is fixed and the effect of location of group B on the effective elastic modulus is considered by the application of FEM. The FEM analysis indicates that the effective elastic modulus is almost independent of the location of group B when the projected areas of inclusions of groups A and B are not overlapped. In other words, the volume fraction of inclusion and projected area fraction of inclusions are two major parameters controlling the effective elastic modulus of composites.
