Physical meaning and experimental check of a variational principle for macro-to-micro transition

摘要

The macroscopic behavior of a heterogeneous medium, and the microscopic fields as well (e.g. strain and stress), do not depend merely on the volume distribution of the microscopic inhomogeneity, but also on the geometrical distribution. It is often admitted that, in the ideal situation where the micro-geometrical information would be completely known, then the macroscopic behavior should be determined uniquely. According to the results of Kroner (1986), this is true for linear behavior (thus e.g. for linear elasticity).