Evaluation for elastic properties of metal matrix composites with randomly distributed fibers: Two-step mean-field homogenization procedure versus FE homogenization method

The modified two-step mean-field homogenization procedure including the quadratic interpolative model on the basis of the Mori-Tanaka (M-T) and interpolative double inclusion (D-I) mean-field homogenization models in the first-step homogenization procedure and the simple interpolative model in the second-step homogenization procedure on the basis of the Voigt and Reuss mean-field homogenization models, and the direct finite element (FE) homogenization method based on the concept of the representative volume element (RVE) and the periodic boundary conditions (the RVE based FE homogenization method), are implemented to predict the effective elastic properties of metal matrix composites with the randomly distributed fibers. Compared with the results measured from the uniaxial tensile experiments, the modified two-step mean-field homogenization procedure and the RVE based FE homogenization method provide the accurate predictions on the effective elastic properties of metal matrix composites with the randomly distributed fibers. However, in the case of neglecting the detailed stress and strain fields in the metal matrix composites with the randomly distributed fibers, the modified two-step mean-field homogenization procedure gives the far better computational efficiency than the RVE based FE homogenization method. [Display omitted] •Elastic properties of short-fiber reinforced metal matrix composites are evaluated.•Modified two-step mean-field homogenization procedure is introduced.•RVE based FE homogenization method is implemented to provide reference results.•Computational efficiency of FE method and mean-field procedure is compared.