Research Article
Multipoint Approximation of Statistical Descriptors of Local
Strain and Stress Fields in Heterogeneous Media Using Integral
Equation Method
Mikhail Tashkinov
Faculty of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics, Perm National Research Polytechnic University,
Komsomolsky Ave. 29, Perm 614990, Russia
Correspondence should be addressed to Mikhail Tashkinov; m.tashkinov@pstu.ru
Received 30 July 2017; Accepted 28 March 2018; Published 6 May 2018
Academic Editor: Ricardo Weder
Copyright © 2018 Mikhail Tashkinov. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License,
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Tis paper is devoted to derivation of analytic expressions for statistical descriptors of stress and strain felds in heterogeneous
media. Multipoint approximations of solutions of stochastic elastic boundary value problems for representative volume elements are
investigated. Te stress and strain felds are represented in the form of random coordinate functions, for which analytical expressions
for the frst- and second-order statistical central moments are obtained. Such moments characterize distribution of felds under
prescribed loading of a representative volume element and depend on the geometry features and location of components within a
volume. Te information of the internal geometrical structure is taken into account by means of multipoint correlation functions.
Within the framework of the second approximation of the boundary value problem, the correlation functions up to the ffh order
are required to calculate the statistical characteristics. Using the method of Green’s functions, analytical expressions for the moments
in distinct phases of the microstructure are obtained explicitly in a form of integral equations. Teir analysis and comparison with
previously obtained results are performed.
1. Introduction
Heterogeneous materials nowadays are the essential link
of advanced engineering solutions. Te advantages of such
materials are underpinned by an ability to obtain tailored
properties by combining constituents and their characteris-
tics on microscale level. In the context of solving problems
connected with evaluation of microstructural behavior of
such heterogeneous materials and media, it is necessary to
take into account mutual infuence of inhomogeneities. As
a rule, modeling of the efective response of materials is
performed within the concept of representative volume ele-
ment (RVE). In these frameworks, wide range of mechanical
approaches can be used to establish connection between
diferent scales of materials with complex microstructure.
Randomly reinforced media can be distinguished in a sepa-
rate class of materials where local mechanical characteristics
can be estimated using statistical instruments and the theory
of random functions. Tus, moments of the stress and strain
felds in components can be used as the statistical measures of
local mechanical behavior [1]. Te morphological properties
of the microstructure can be formalized using correlation
functions that describe interaction of the inhomogeneities
with each other and can sense geometrical efects, such as
shape, distribution, clustering, and percolation [2].
Statistical assessment of mechanical behavior can be
done analytically for each phase of media. Kroener [3] and
Beran [4] developed statistical mathematical formulations
in order to connect geometrical correlation functions and
properties of heterogeneous materials. Explicit relations for
second moments of stresses were obtained in [5] and utilized
second- and third-order interactions between inclusions.
Several exact solutions for second-order moment of stress
felds were ofered for some cases of deterministic structures.
One of such models is media with regular structure [6–8]. Te
method of integral equations can be implemented for obtain-
ing analytical expressions for local statistics. It presumes
that mechanical properties of microstructural components
Hindawi
Advances in Mathematical Physics
Volume 2018, Article ID 5785193, 9 pages
https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/5785193