Arch Appl Mech

DOI 10.1007/s00419-015-1116-2

SPECIAL

Shao-Zhen Lin Li-Yuan Zhang Jun-Yuan Sheng Bo Li

Xi-Qiao Feng

Micromechanics methods for evaluating the effective moduli

of soft neo-Hookean composites

Received: 31 August 2015 / Accepted: 30 December 2015

Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016

Abstract Most biological soft tissues are multiphase composite materials, and the determination of their
effective constitutive relations is a major concern in medical engineering. In this paper, we consider a class of
soft two-phase composites, in which both phases are isotropic and hyperelastic neo-Hookean materials. For
such an isotropic composite consisting of inclusions uniformly distributed but randomly oriented in a matrix,
two constitutive parameters are required to characterize its hyperelastic constitutive relation. Micromechanics
methods, including dilute concentration method, MoriTanaka method, self-consistent method, and differential
method are extended to predict the effective properties of this kind of composites. Analytical solutions are given
for the hyperelastic neo-Hookean composites reinforced by spherical particles, long fibers, and penny-shaped
platelets, respectively. Finite element simulations are performed to evaluate the accuracy of these theoretical
methods.

Keywords Biological soft tissue Neo-Hookean composite Overall effective property Hyperelasticity
Micromechanics

1 Introduction

Composites can possess some superior mechanical properties over their constituent counterparts and, there-
fore, have many technologically important applications in, for instance, aerospace technology [1], automobile
industry [2,3], and bioengineering [4,5]. In the past decades, much effort has been directed toward predicting
the macroscopic mechanical properties of composites from the microstructures and constitutive relations of
their constituent phases [610]. A multitude of micromechanics methods have been established, e.g., dilute con-
centration or non-interacting method (DCM) [11], MoriTanaka method (MTM) [12], self-consistent method
(SCM) [13], and differential method (DM) [14,15], and most of them are based on the well-known Eshelby
inclusion theory [11,16]. These methods have been extensively applied to predict the overall mechanical
responses of linear elastic composites.
To date, however, there is still a shortage of methods to predict the effective mechanical properties of
composites containing one or more nonlinear constituent phases, e.g., hyperelastic neo-Hookean materials.
Due to its simplicity in form, the hyperelastic neo-Hookean model, proposed by Rivlin [17], has been widely
used to characterize the mechanical behavior of soft materials. For instance, the mechanical properties of some
S.-Z. Lin J.-Y. Sheng B. Li X.-Q. Feng (B)
AML & CNMM, Department of Engineering Mechanics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Tel.: +86-10-6277 2934
Fax: +86-10-6278 1824
E-mail: fengxq@tsinghua.edu.cn

L.-Y. Zhang
School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China
 S.-Z. Lin et al.

biological soft tissues are often modeled by the neo-Hookean model [1822]. In fact, most biological soft
tissues, e.g., tendons, blood vessels, skins, and muscles, are multiphase composites, in which at least one phase
is hyperelastic and organic [2325]. The characterization of their constitutive relations is important for tissue
engineering and surgery operations and hence becomes a major concern in those fields [26,27]. In addition, soft
composites also hold promise for applications in such rapidly developing technologies as soft and biomimetic
machines [28] and flexible electronics [29], whose performance and reliability rely strongly on their overall
mechanical properties.
The constitutive relations of neo-Hookean multiphase composites have attracted considerable attention in
recent years. Most previous studies considered the mechanical properties of neo-Hookean composites rein-
forced by linear elastic fibers or rigid inclusions. Qiu and Pence [30] and Merodio and Ogden [31] investigated
the deformation behavior of nonlinear elastic composites directionally reinforced by linear elastic fibers. Guo
et al. [32] derived the strain energy function of neo-Hookean composites reinforced by aligned neo-Hookean
fibers. Chen et al. [33] implemented the second-order homogenization theory [34,35] to estimate the macro-
scopic mechanical behavior of soft biological tissues with undulated collagen fibers. Recently, Lopez-Pamies
et al. [36,37] studied the nonlinear response of an incompressible neo-Hookean rubber reinforced by randomly
oriented rigid inclusions by invoking an iterated homogenization method [38] and the nonlinear comparison
medium technique.
This paper is aimed to predict the effective constitutive parameters of soft two-phase composites, in which
both the matrix and the inclusions are isotropic and hyperelastic neo-Hookean materials. In particular, three
representative shapes of ellipsoidal inclusions including spherical particles, long fibers, and penny-shaped
platelets are considered. The inclusions are uniformly distributed but randomly oriented in the matrix, making
the composites be macroscopically homogeneous and isotropic. As pointed out by Lopez-Pamies et al. [36,
37], an incompressible neo-Hookean composite reinforced by randomly oriented rigid inclusions still obeys
the incompressible neo-Hookean constitutive law. Here, we generalize their conclusion and assume that the
macroscopic homogeneous and isotropic neo-Hookean composite under investigation obeys the neo-Hookean
constitutive law. We will investigate how the conventional micromechanics methods on the basis of the Eshelby
inclusion theory can be extended to predict the effective hyperelastic constitutive parameters of such two-phase
neo-Hookean composites.

2 Basic equations

Consider an inclusion of ellipsoidal shape embedded in a neo-Hookean solid. The strain energy density function
of a neo-Hookean hyperelastic material can be expressed as

 1/3  
1/2
2
W = I1 I3 3 + I3 1 , (1)
2 2
   
where I1 = tr FT F , I3 = det FT F , with F being the deformation gradient tensor, and denote the
shear and bulk modulus, respectively.
The method for evaluating the average Cauchy stresses and the average Cauchy strains in an isotropic
composite under infinitesimal deformation has been developed previously [16,39]. In the case of infinitesimal
deformation, the neo-Hookean constitutive model in Eq. (1) degenerates to the linear elastic Hookes law (see
Appendix A). In addition, for an isotropic neo-Hookean composite, the macroscopic effective constitutive
parameters eff and eff at the ground state are constant and independent of its deformation. This inspires us
to predict the effective moduli of an isotropic neo-Hookean composite from the analysis of its infinitesimal
deformations. The results should also hold for the case of finite deformation.
A unified global coordinate system (1 , 2 , 3 ) is established to describe the orientation of inclusions, as
shown in Fig. 1. The axes of the local coordinate system (z 1 , z 2 , z 3 ) coincide with the principal axes of each
inclusion. Both the global coordinate system and the local coordinate systems are right-handed Cartesian
 z z z
coordinate systems, with their base vectors denoted as e1 , e2 , e3 and e1 , e2 , e3 , respectively.
Classical micromechanics theory reveals that when an infinitely extended elastic matrix reinforced by a
single ellipsoidal inclusion is subjected to a far-field strain , the resulted strain in the inclusion can be
expressed as [16]

 1
p = I + S : C1
m : Cp Cm : , (2)
Micromechanics methods for evaluating the effective moduli

z2
z1

O
3

z3
2
Fig. 1 An inclusion embedded in a matrix, where (1 , 2 , 3 ) is the global coordinate system and (z 1 , z 2 , z 3 ) is the local coordinate
system

where Cp and Cm are the elastic stiffness tensors of the inclusion and the matrix, respectively, and S is the
Eshelby tensor. However, in composites, there are usually many inclusions dispersed in the matrix. In the
analysis of an individual inclusion, one may remove its neighboring inclusions and replace the matrix by an
effective one such that the effects of inclusion interaction can be taken into account. Thus Eq. (2) can be
rewritten as [16]

 1
p = I + S : C1
em : Cp Cem : em , (3)
where Cem denotes the elastic stiffness tensor of the effective matrix and
em is the far-field strain applied at
infinity in the effective matrix. Defining

 1
 = I + S : C1em : Cp Cem , (4)
Equation (3) becomes
p =  :
em . (5)
Equation (5) correlates the strain p in each inclusion and the far-field strain
em applied at the infinity in the
effective matrix through the fourth-order tensor , which will be referred to as the local strain transformation
(LST) tensor hereafter. Equation (4) reveals that the LST tensor  depends on the elastic moduli of the
inclusions and the effective matrix, as well as the shape of inclusions, that is,


 = g Cp , Cem ; (a1 , a2 , a3 ) , (6)
 S.-Z. Lin et al.

where (a1 , a2 , a3 ) describes the inclusion shape.

For the sake of clarity, we express  as  in the global coordinate system and z in the local coordinate
system, that is,

 =  = i jkl ei e j ek el = z = izjkl eiz ezj ekz elz . (7)
Here and throughout the paper, the Einstein summation convention is adopted for all Latin indexes.

The transformation relationship between i jkl and izjkl can be written as

i jkl (, ) = T pi (, ) Tq j (, ) Tr k (, ) Tsl (, ) zpqr s , (8)
where T (, ) denotes the transformation tensor from the global coordinate system (1 , 2 , 3 ) to the local
coordinate system (z 1 , z 2 , z 3 ). In the matrix form, it reads

cos sin sin sin cos
T (, ) = sin cos sin cos cos . (9)
0 cos sin
Substituting Eq. (8) into (5) and calculating the directional average strain in all inclusions, we obtain
 
p =  :
em , (10)
where
 2 
1
=  (, ) sin d d. (11)
4 0 0
Here the orientations of inclusions have been assumed to be completely random, which leads to the coefficient
1/4 in Eq. (11).
Thus the volume average strain in the composite is
= c :
em + (1 c) m , (12)
where c is the volume fraction of the inclusions and m denotes the volume average strain   in the matrix.
The fourth-order tensor  establishes the relationship between the average strain p in all inclusions and
the far-field strain
em in the effective matrix and will be referred to as the overall strain transformation (OST)
tensor. It is known from Eqs. (6) and (11) that


 = g Cp , Cem ; (a1 , a2 , a3 ) . (13)
Since the inclusions are uniformly distributed and randomly oriented in the matrix,  must be an isotropic
tensor and thus have only two independent parameters. For simplicity, we chose 1111 and 1212 as the two
independent parameters of . For the three kinds of ellipsoidal inclusions discussed in this paper, i.e., spherical
particles, long fibers, and penny-shaped platelets,  is a fourth-order transversely isotropic tensor. From Eq.
(11), we obtain
1 z 8 2 2 8
1111 =  + z + z + z + z ,
5 1111 15 2222 15 1122 15 2211 15 1212
1  z z z z  2 z 1 z
1212 = 1111 + 2222 1122 2211 + 1212 + 2323 . (14)
15 5 3
Utilizing Eqs. (5) and (12), we readily obtain the average stress tensor in the composite as
 
= cCp : p + (1 c) Cm : m
   
= Cm : + c Cp Cm :  : em . (15)
Consequently, the effective moduli Ceff can be calculated from Eq. (15) when the moduli Cem of the
effective matrix and the far-field strain
em in the effective matrix are properly estimated [40]. All fourth-order
tensors used in the above equations are transversely isotropic tensors, and we adopt Walpoles method [41]
to simplify the derivation in the sequel. Details are provided in Appendix B. In the following, we will use
some traditional micromechanics methods, i.e., DCM, MTM, SCM, and DM, to determine the constitutive
parameters eff and eff . The results will be validated by finite element simulations.
 Micromechanics methods for evaluating the effective moduli

3 Effective moduli

In this section, we examine the application of four conventional micromechanics methods to evaluate the
effective moduli of neo-Hookean composites. The accuracy and validation scopes of these methods will be
compared.

3.1 Dilute concentration method (DCM)

When the volume fraction of inclusions in the composite is low, their interactions will be relatively weak and
can be ignored. Then, it can be simply assumed that Cem = Cm and em = . The OST tensor becomes


DCM = g Cp , Cm ; (a1 , a2 , a3 ) . (16)
Then, Eq. (15) degenerates to

  
= Cm + c Cp Cm : DCM : . (17)
Consequently, the effective elastic stiffness tensor obtained from DCM is given as
 
CDCM
eff = Cm + c Cp Cm : DCM . (18)
Substituting Eq. (16) into (18), we can derive the effective moduli of a neo-Hookean composite reinforced
by inclusions with various shapes. For three representative shapes, i.e., spherical particles, long fibers, and
penny-shaped platelets, the results are provided below.
(i) For a composite reinforced by spherical particles, the OST tensor can be expressed as
 
3m + 4m 5m (3m + 4m )
 DCM
= , . (19)
3p + 4m 6p (m + 2m ) + m (9m + 8m )
Substituting Eq. (19) into (18), we get the effective bulk modulus and shear modulus of the neo-Hookean
composite reinforced by dilute distributed spherical particles as
   
p m (3m + 4m )
eff = m 1 +
DCM   c ,
m 3p + 4m
   
5 p m (3 m + 4 m )
DCM
eff = m 1 + c . (20)
6p (m + 2m ) + m (9m + 8m )

When the matrix is incompressible and the inclusions are rigid as well, Eq. (20) degenerates to
 
5
eff = m 1 + c ,
DCM
(21)
2
which coincides with the result of Lopez-Pamies et al. [36].
(ii) For a composite reinforced by long fibers, the expressions of DCM and CDCM
eff can be derived using the
method given in the Appendix B but the lengthy results are omitted here. In the special case that both
the inclusions and the matrix are incompressible, the effective bulk modulus effDCM due to the

incompressibility, and the effective shear modulus eff can be derived explicitly as
DCM

    
p m p + 9m
eff = m 1 +
DCM   c . (22)
5m p + m
(iii) When both the inclusions and the matrix of a composite reinforced by penny-shaped platelets are incom-
pressible, its effective shear modulus is obtained as
    
p m 3p + 2m
eff = m 1 +
DCM
c . (23)
5p m
 S.-Z. Lin et al.

3.2 MoriTanaka method (MTM)

MoriTanaka method is a simple but quite robust method to account for the interaction of inclusions. It modifies
the far-field strain
em in the effective matrix and assumes that em is the same as the average strain m in the
matrix, both of which are to be determined. Moreover, the moduli of the effective matrix are supposed to be the
same as that of the real matrix in the MTM model. Using the MTM assumption of Cem = Cm and em = m ,
the OST tensor can be expressed as


MTM = g Cp , Cm ; (a1 , a2 , a3 ) , (24)

which is the same as Eq. (16) in DCM.

Substituting
em = m into Eq. (12) produces

MTM 1

em = m = c + (1 c) I : . (25)

After substituting Eq. (25) into (15), the effective stiffness tensor is derived

 
1
CMTM
eff = Cm + c Cp Cm : MTM : cMTM + (1 c) I . (26)

Then the bulk modulus eff

MTM and shear modulus MTM are expressed as
eff

   MTM 
p m 3 1111 4 MTM
1212
eff
MTM
= m + c,
1 c + 3c MTM 4c MTM
  1111 1212
2 p m MTM 1212
MTM
eff = m + c. (27)
1 c + 2c MTM
1212

(i) For a composite reinforced by spherical particles, substituting Eq. (19) to (27) gives
 
(3m + 4m )
eff
MTM
= m 1 + c ,
m (1 3c)
 
5 (3m + 4m )
eff = m 1 +
MTM
c , (28)
(m + 2m ) (1 6c)

where
   
p m p m (m + 2m )
= , = . (29)
3p + 4m 6p (m + 2m ) + m (9m + 8m )

(ii) In the case when both the matrix and the inclusions are incompressible, the effective shear modulus of a
composite reinforced by long fibers is
  
p m p + 9m
MTM
eff = m + c. (30)
(5 4c) p + (5 + 4c) m

(iii) In the case when both the matrix and the inclusions are incompressible, the effective shear modulus of a
composite reinforced by penny-shaped platelets is
  
p m 3p + 2m
MTM
eff = m + c. (31)
(5 2c) p + 2cm
Micromechanics methods for evaluating the effective moduli

3.3 Self-consistent method (SCM)

Self-consistent method accounts for the interaction of inclusions in a manner different from MTM. In SCM,
the moduli of the effective matrix Cem are not taken as the same as that of the matrix, Cm . Instead, the moduli of
the effective matrix Cem are assumed to be equal to the undetermined effective moduli of the composite, CSCM eff .
in the effective matrix is assumed to be the same as that in the composite, .
Moreover, the far-field strain em
Using the SCM approximation of Cem = CSCM
eff and em = , the OST tensor becomes


SCM = g Cp , CSCM eff ; (a1 , a2 , a3 ) . (32)
Substituting
em = into Eq. (15) leads to
 
eff = Cm + c Cp Cm : 
CSCM .
SCM
(33)

It should be noted that Eq. (33) is an algebraic equation of the effective moduli CSCM
eff , which can be readily
solved.
(i) For a composite reinforced by spherical particles, substituting Eqs. (14) and (32) into (33) yields
   SCM 
p m 3eff + 4SCM
eff
eff = m +
SCM
c,
3p + 4SCM
eff
   SCM 
5SCM
eff p m 3eff + 4SCM
eff
eff = m +
SCM
 SCM   SCM  c, (34)
6p eff + 2SCM
eff + SCMeff 9eff + 8SCM
eff

from which the moduli eff

SCM and SCM can be solved numerically.
eff
(ii) For a composite reinforced by long fibers, in the case when both the matrix and the inclusions are
incompressible, Eq. (33) degenerates to
 SCM 2    
eff + (5 9c) p m SCM eff (5 c) p m + c p = 0.
2
(35)

Similarly, the effective modulus SCM

eff can be obtained by solving this simple algebraic equation.
(iii) When both the matrix and the inclusions are incompressible, the effective shear modulus of a composite
reinforced by penny-shaped platelets is
(5 3c) m + 3cp
SCM
eff = p . (36)
(5 2c) p + 2cm

3.4 Differential method (DM)

Differential method conceives the actual concentration of inclusions to be reached through a step-by-step
process by adding the inclusions gradually into the matrix. Specifically, it can be illustrated as the following
iterative steps. One first removes an infinitesimal volume from the matrix and adds inclusions of the same
volume. Second, the overall effective elastic tensor of this new composite is estimated by using the dilute
concentration method. Third, the intermediate composite with the obtained effective elastic tensor will be used
as the matrix in the next iteration step. The iteration step will be stopped when the concentration of inclusions
reaches the actual value.
For simplicity, the initial matrix is specified to have unit volume. Let i denote the volume of inclusions
embedded in the composite at the i-th operation. In addition, let ci and C(i) eff denote the concentration of the
inclusions and the effective moduli of the composite after the i-th operation, respectively. Then, we have
ci+1 ci
i+1 = . (37)
1 ci
According to Eq. (18), we derive the recursive relation of C(i)
eff as
 
C(i+1)
eff = C(i)
eff + i+1 C p C (i) (i)
eff :  , (38)
 S.-Z. Lin et al.

where (i) is equal to

 
(i) = g Cp , C(i)
eff ; (a , a ,
1 2 3 .a ) (39)

Inserting Eq. (37) into (38) and letting i , CDM

eff is governed by the differential equation

dCDM 1  
eff
= Cp CDM
eff : 
DM
, (40)
dc 1c
with the initial condition


eff c=0 = Cm .
CDM (41)

The OST tensor DM in Eq. (40) becomes


DM = g Cp , CDM
eff ; (a1 , a2 , a3 ) . (42)
By solving the differential Eqs. (40) and (41), the effective moduli CDM eff can be derived.
(i) For a composite reinforced by spherical particles, the differential Eqs. (40) and (41) become
  
DM
deff 1 p effDM 3 DM + 4DM
eff eff
= ,
dc 1c 3p + 4DM eff
  
eff p eff
5DM DM 3 DM + 4DM
dDM 1 eff eff
eff
=    , (43)
dc 1 c 6p eff
DM + 2DM + DM 9 DM + 8DM
eff eff eff eff
with the initial condition
DM 
 
eff = m , DM 
c=0 eff c=0 = m . (44)
When both the matrix and the inclusions are incompressible, which leads to eff
DM , the differential
Eqs. (43) and (44) reduce to
 
1 5DMeff p eff
DM
dDM
eff
= ,
dc 1 c 2p + 3DM eff

DM  eff = m .
c=0
(45)
The analytical solution of Eq. (45) is obtained as
 5  
p DM DM 2
eff
= (1 c)5 eff
. (46)
p m m
By solving this algebraic equation, we can get the effective shear modulus eff .
Further, if the inclusions are rigid (eff +), Eq. (46) degenerates to
m
eff =
DM 5
, (47)
(1 c) 2
which coincides with the result of Lopez-Pamies et al. [37].
(ii) For a composite reinforced by long fibers, when both the matrix and the inclusions are incompressible, the
differential Eqs. (40) and (41) degenerate to
  
dDM 1 p DM eff p + 9DM
eff
eff
=   ,
dc 1c 5 p + DM eff

DM 
eff c=0
= m . (48)
The solution of Eq. (48) is
 9
p DM DM
eff
= (1 c)9 eff
. (49)
p m m
 Micromechanics methods for evaluating the effective moduli

(iii) For a composite reinforced by penny-shaped platelets, when both the matrix and the inclusions are incom-
pressible, Eqs. (40) and (41) degenerate to
  
dDM 1 p DM eff 3p + 2DM
eff
eff
= ,
dc 1c 5p

DM 
eff = m ,
c=0
(50)
and its analytical solution is
   
5 (1 c) p m
DM
eff = 1   p . (51)
3p + 2m + 2 (1 c) p m

3.5 Comparison of different methods

In Subsects. 3.13.4, we have presented four conventional micromechanics methods to derive the effective
moduli of the neo-Hookean composites reinforced by inclusions of three representative shapes. When the
aspect ratio of the shape of randomly oriented inclusions is relatively small (e.g., <5.0), they can be simplified
as spherical inclusions following the rule of volume equivalence, without introducing a significant error in
the estimation of effective moduli. The analytical solutions in these special cases are collected in Table 1.
Generally, DCM can be applied to estimate the effective moduli of neo-Hookean composites only when the
inclusions are sparsely distributed in the matrix. In contrast, SCM, MTM, and DM can be applied to the
neo-Hookean composite with moderate or high concentration of inclusions.
To further compare DCM, MTM, SCM, and DM, Fig. 2 shows their solutions of the effective moduli
eff and eff of neo-Hookean composites reinforced by uniformly distributed spherical particles. The Hashin
Shtrikman bounds are also provided [42]. It is illustrated that the effective moduli increase with the inclusion
concentration c. When c is smaller than 0.2, the four micromechanics methods give an almost identical result
close to the HashinShtrikmans lower bound. The differences among the effective moduli predicted by DCM,
MTM, SCM, and DM become larger with increasing c. Besides, they, except the solution of DCM, lie between
the HashinShtrikmans upper and lower bounds. Therefore, DCM can well predict the effective moduli of
neo-Hookean composites only when the inclusion concentration is low (e.g., c < 0.2), while MTM, SCM,
and DM are suggested for higher values of c.

3.6 Effect of inclusion shape

As aforementioned, inclusion shape plays a significant role in the mechanical properties of composites. The
stiffening effects of spherical particles, long fibers, and penny-shaped platelets are compared in Fig. 3, where
the inclusions are uniformly distributed but randomly oriented in an incompressible neo-Hookean matrix. It is
found that long fibers and penny-shaped platelets exhibit an almost identical stiffening effect, which is much
higher than that of spherical particulates.

4 Finite element simulations

4.1 Finite element model

To further verify the applicability of the theoretical solutions to the case of large deformation, we simulate
the responses of neo-Hookean composites reinforced by uniformly distributed spherical particles by using the
commercial software Abaqus (Version 6.10). The average strain energy density Weff TH predicted by DM will be

used to compare with that (Weff ) from the finite element method (FEM) because the effective moduli can be
FE
derived from the average strain energy densities under the corresponding loading conditions.
Choose a representative volume element (RVE) to simulate the nonlinear mechanical responses of neo-
Hookean composites reinforced by uniformly distributed spherical particles under uniaxial stretch. The fol-
lowing two cases are simulated. In the first case, the RVE has a single spherical inclusion located at the center
of the RVE. Boundary and loading conditions and mesh are shown in Fig. 4. In the second case, the RVE
contains multiple inclusions. In our simulations, five identical spherical inclusions are randomly distributed in
the RVE. Different inclusion concentrations can be achieved by changing the inclusion radius.
Table 1 Analytical solutions for the effective moduli of neo-Hookean composites reinforced by uniformly distributed and randomly oriented inclusions

Spherical particles Long fibersa Penny-shaped plateletsa

   
DCM
p m (3m + 4m )
eff = m 1 +   c ,          
m 3p + 4m p m p + 9m p m 3p + 2m
DCM     DCM = m 1 +   c DCM = m 1 + c
eff eff
5 p m (3m + 4m ) 5m p + m 5p m
DCM
eff = m 1 + c .
6p (m + 2m ) + m (9m + 8m )
 
MTM = (3m + 4m )
eff m 1+ c ,
 m (1 3c)       
5 (3m + 4m ) p m p + 9m p m 3p + 2m
MTM MTM
eff = m 1 + c , MTM
eff = m + c MTM
eff = m + c
  (m + 2m )(1 6c) (5 4c) p + (5 + 4c) m (5 2c) p + 2cm
p m p m (m + 2m )
= , = .
3p + 4m 6 p ( m
  SCM+ 2mSCM ) +m (9m + 8m )
p m 3eff + 4eff  SCM 2  
SCM = +
eff m c eff + (5 9c) p m SCM
3p + 4SCM eff (5 3c) m + 3cp
eff  
SCM     SCM
eff = p
5SCM SCM + 4SCM 2 (5 2c) p + 2cm
eff p m 3eff eff (5 c) p m + c p = 0
SCM
eff = m +  
SCM + 2SCM + SCM 9 SCM + 8SCM
 c
6p eff eff eff eff eff
DM
  
deff 1 p effDM 3 DM + 4DM
eff eff
=  
dc 1c 3p + 4DM  9    
 eff 
DM DM
  DM p DM
eff 9 DM 5 (1 c) p m
DM deff 1 5eff p DM eff 3eff + 4DM eff = (1 c) eff DM
eff = 1   p
=  DM  DM
 DM DM
 p m m 3p + 2m + 2 (1 c) p m
dc 1 c 6p eff + 2DM eff + eff 9eff + 8eff
 
DM 
eff c=0
= m , DM  eff c=0
= m
a The results in these columns are derived for the case when both the matrix and inclusions are incompressible
S.-Z. Lin et al.
Micromechanics methods for evaluating the effective moduli

Fig. 2 Comparison of the effective moduli of a neo-Hookean composite reinforced by uniformly distributed spherical particles
obtained by DCM, MTM, SCM and DM. a The effective bulk modulus and b the effective shear modulus. The symbols HS+ and
HS correspond to the upper and lower HashinShtrikman bounds, respectively. Here, the moduli of the matrix and inclusions
are taken as m = 0.6GPa, m = 1.0GPa, and p = 6.0GPa, p = 10.0GPa

4.2 Comparison of theoretical and numerical results

We use DM to predict the elastic moduli of neo-Hookean composites reinforced by uniformly distributed
spherical particles. Under uniaxial stretch along the z axis, the average deformation gradient tensor in the
composite is

F = diag {1, 1, z } , (52)

where z = = 1 + 2u z /L m is the principal stretch.

Combining Eqs. (1) and (52), the average strain energy density in the RVE is derived as

DM  2   DM
TH
Weff = eff
3 2 + 2 3 + eff ( 1)2 , (53)
2 2

eff and eff are the effective shear modulus and effective bulk modulus predicted by DM.
where DM DM
 S.-Z. Lin et al.

Fig. 3 Effect of inclusion shape on the effective modulus. The effective shear modulus eff is obtained by DM. Here, the matrix
and inclusions are incompressible and the shear moduli of the matrix and inclusions are taken as m = 0.6GPa and p = 6.0GPa,
respectively

Fig. 4 a Boundary and loading conditions and b mesh of the finite element model

FE in the RVE obtained from the FEM simulation is calculated by

The average strain energy density Weff

U FE
FE
Weff = , (54)
V0

where U FE is the total strain energy of all elements, and V0 is the initial volume of the RVE.
Figure 5a shows the results from the simulations in which the RVE has only one inclusion. A good agreement
is found between Weff TH and W FE in a wide range of uniaxial stretch (0.3 3.0), especially when the
eff z
deformation is not too large. The deviation between Weff TH and W FE increases as the deformation increases,
eff
but their relative difference is negligible in the range of 0.7 < z < 1.5. For example, when the inclusion
concentration is c = 26.81 %, the relative deviation Weff TH W FE /W FE is 5.9 and 12.2 % when = 3.0
eff eff z
and 0.3, respectively.
Figure 5b gives the results from the simulations in which the RVE contains five inclusions. It is found that
the numerical solutions for the average strain energy density Weff FE agree well with the theoretical prediction
TH of DM in a wide range of uniaxial stretch (e.g., 0.75 < < 2) and high inclusion concentration (e.g.,
Weff z
c = 0.26, 2.09, 7.07 %). The effective moduli DM eff and DM obtained from DM have good accuracy in a wide
eff
range of inclusion concentration under large deformation. Therefore, the DM solution is a good choice for
Micromechanics methods for evaluating the effective moduli

Fig. 5 Comparison of the average strain energy density obtained from DM (WeffTH ) and FEM (W FE ) under uniaxial tension. a
eff
Results of an RVE containing a single inclusion. b Results of an RVE containing multiple inclusions. Here, the moduli of the
matrix and the inclusions are taken as m = 0.6GPa, m = 1.0GPa, p = 1.2GPa, and p = 5.0GPa

predicting the average strain energy density of neo-Hookean composites reinforced by uniformly distributed
spherical particles.

5 Conclusions

We have addressed the micromechanics methods for predicting the effective elastic properties of neo-Hookean
composites reinforced by uniformly distributed but randomly oriented inclusions. Three typical shapes of
inclusions have been considered, including spheres, long fibers, and thin platelets. Finite element simulations
are also performed to examine the feasibility of DM in predicting the mechanical properties of neo-Hookean
composites undergoing large deformations. It is shown that DCM can well predict the effective moduli of
neo-Hookean composites when the inclusion concentration is low (e.g., c < 0.2), while MTM, SCM and
DM are suggested for higher inclusion volume fractions. This work can be applied to analyze the hyperelastic
properties of biological soft composites, e.g., tendons, blood vessels, and muscles.
 S.-Z. Lin et al.

Acknowledgments Supports from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11432008 and 11542005) and
Tsinghua University (20121087991) are acknowledged.

Appendix A: Nonlinear elasticity

Refer to X and x as the position of a material point in the initial and current configurations, respectively. The
displacement of the material point is u = x X. Thus the deformation gradient tensor F reads
x u  
F= =I+ = i j + u i, j ei e j , (55)
X X
where i j is the Kronecker delta, u i, j = u i / X j are the displacement gradients, and ei are the base vectors.
The strain energy density function of a neo-Hookean hyperelastic material can be expressed as Eq. (1) in
the main text. According to the theory of nonlinear elasticity [43], the Cauchy stress tensor can be derived as
W  
1/2 5/6 5/6 1/2
= I3 F = I3 F FT + I1 I3 + I3 I, (56)
F 3
where I is the second-order identical tensor. Substituting Eq. (55) into (56), we obtain the Cauchy stresses
 
5/6   5/6 1 5/6 1/2
i j = I3 u i, j + u j,i + u i,k u j,k + I3 I1 I3 + I3 i j . (57)
3
In the principal stretch coordinate system, the deformation gradient tensor becomes F = diag {1 , 2 , 3 },
with i (i = 1, 2, 3) being the principal stretches. Correspondingly, I1 and I3 can be re-expressed as
 
I1 = 3 + 2 (1 + 2 + 3 ) + 12 + 22 + 32 ,
I3 = 1 + 2 (1 + 2 + 3 ) + , (58)

where i = i 1 are the principal Cauchy strains.

 
In the case of infinitesimal deformation, u i, j  << 1, substituting Eq. (58) into (57) produces
 
2
i j = 2i j + kk i j , (59)
3
where i j denote the Cauchy strains.
Therefore, in the cases of infinitesimal deformation, the neo-Hookean constitutive model in Eq. (1) in the
main text degenerates to the linear elastic Hookes law.

Appendix B: Simplified calculation of transversely isotropic tensors

An arbitrary transversely isotropic tensor H possesses six independent parameters. When it has rotational
symmetry about the x1 axis, H can be written in a matrix form [39] as

d g g
h b+e be
2 2

h be b+e

H= 2 2 , (60)
e

f
f

where the six italic alphabets a f are defined by

b = 2H2222 2H2323 , g = H1122 , h = H2211 ,
(61)
d = H1111 , e = 2H2323 , f = 2H1212 .
Micromechanics methods for evaluating the effective moduli

Using the Walpoles method, a transversely isotropic tensor H can be simply expressed as H =
(b, g, h, d, e, f ). The algorithms of transversely isotropic
 tensors can readily
 be obtained in terms of matri-
ces. For two transversely isotropic tensors H = b , g , h , d , e , f , ( = 1, 2), for example, their
algorithms can be expressed as

H1 H2 = (b1 b2 , g1 g2 , h 1 h 2 , d1 d2 , e1 e2 , f 1 f 2 ) ,
H1 : H2 = (b1 b2 + 2h 1 g2 , g1 b2 + d1 g2 , b1 h 2 + h 1 d2 , d1 d2 + 2g1 h 2 , e1 e2 , f 1 f 2 ) ,
 
1 d g h b 1 1
H = , , , , , ,  = bd 2gh. (62)
    e f
Moreover, if H is an isotropic tensor, it can be further

simplified
 as H = [, ], where = 3H1111
4H1212 and = 2H1212 . For two isotropic tensors H = , , ( = 1, 2), one has the relations
 
1 1 1
H1 H2 = [1 2 , 1 2 ] , H1 : H2 = [1 2 , 1 2 ] , H1 = , . (63)
1 1
Given the above notations, the algorithms of transversely isotropic tensors will become more intuitive. For
example, the effective elastic stiffness tensor for the composites considered in this paper is isotropic and thus
can be expressed as

C = [3, 2]
 
2 2 2 4
= 2 + , , , + , 2, 2 . (64)
3 3 3 3
For the inclusions, one can express their Eshelby tensors in similar forms, which can be used to calculate the
LST tensor  and the OST tensor  easily.

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