Bounds and exact theories for the transport properties of inhomogeneous media

Abstract

We investigate the bounds of Milton on the transport coefficient of a two-component composite, in their application to the square and hexagonal arrays of cylinders, and the three cubic lattices of spheres. We show that, in all five cases, as more information is supplied about the geometry of the composite, the bounds converge to the precise point obtained from an exact theory specific to the geometry in question. We illustrate the use of the bounds in determining whether a set of known values of the transport coefficient adequately specifies the general behaviour of that quantity. We determine the values of two structure-dependent parameters for cell materials with spheroidal cells and the value of one parameter for hexagonal and square arrays of cylinders with missing array elements. These parameters determine bounds both on the transport and on the elastic properties of the respective materials.