To introduce readers to the subject of composite (or heterogeneous) materials it is necessary to begin with the main notions and definitions which are presented with the understanding that any definition and classification scheme is neither comprehensive nor complete.

The engineering level of composite material definition is given in ASTM D 3878-95c: “Composite material. A substance consisting of two or more materials, insoluble in one another, which are combined to form a useful engineering material possessing certain properties not possessed by the constituents.” This definition is usually added by the notion of length scale when the characteristic sizes of structural elements (the number of which is statistically large) are much smaller than characteristic sizes of composite medium but much larger than the molecular dimensions with the result that the mechanical state of structural elements is described by the equations of continuous mechanics.


Periodic Structure Composite Material Random Structure Material Tensor Eshelby Tensor 


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© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2007

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