Macroscopic engineering properties of polycrystalline materials: Elastic properties

Abstract

We outline the formal application of integral equation methods (Green’s function techniques) to the systematic computation of the effective elastic properties of polycrystalline materials from the specification of the statistical distribution of elastic properties of the constituent grains (or pores). These methods are not entirely new, but by the use of recent developments in theory of the physics of the electronic porperties and lattice dynamics of disordered solids, we can place various methods on a common footing and indicate their limitations. Some details for the computational application of these methods are also presented.