Thermal Expansion Coefficients of Composite Materials Based on Energy Principles

Bounds on effective thermal expansion coefficients of isotropic and anisotropic composite materials consisting of isotropic phases are derived by employing extremum principles of thermoelasticity. Inequalities between certain approximate and exact forms of the potential and complementary energy functionals are first estab lished. These inequalities are then used in conjunction with a new method for minimizing the difference between upper and...