Micromechanical modeling of local field distribution for a planar composite under plastic deformation

Due to statistical distribution of local material property, local stress and strain fields in a composite are random in nature. Classical micromechanical methods can only predict the average value of these local fields in different phases. An analytical method, which combines the maximum entropy theory and secant moduli method, is proposed in this paper. The distribution of the local field for a planar composite with plastic deformation is examined by the proposed method. The results show that with increase of plastic deformation the stress field in the matrix becomes more and more inhomogeneous. The predicted results on the stress distribution are in reasonable agreement with finite element simulation. Some salient features near the elastic and plastic deformation transition revealed by finite element simulation are also discussed.