Mechanics of Materials 48 (2012) 1–25

Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect

Mechanics of Materials
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/mechmat

Elastic properties of an orthotropic binary fiber-reinforced composite

with auxetic and conventional constituents
Gerardo G. Nava-Gómez a,b, Héctor Camacho-Montes c, Federico J. Sabina d,⇑,
Reinaldo Rodríguez-Ramos e, Luis Fuentes a, Raúl Guinovart-Díaz e
a
Centro de Investigación en Materiales Avanzados S.C., Av. Miguel de Cervantes 120, Complejo Industrial Chihuahua, 31109 Chihuahua, Chih., Mexico
b
Instituto Tecnológico de Ciudad Juárez, Departamento de Ciencias Básicas, Av. Tecnológico 1340, El Crucero, 32500 Cd. Juárez, Chih., Mexico
c
Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, Departamento de Ciencias Físico Matemáticas, Av. Del Charro 610 Nte., Partido Romero, 32310 Cd. Juárez, Chih., Mexico
d
Instituto de Investigaciones de Matemáticas Aplicadas y en Sistemas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 20-726,
Delegación Álvaro Obregón 01000, México D. F., Mexico
e
Facultad de Matemática y Computación, Universidad de La Habana, San Lázaro y L, Vedado, Habana 4 10400, Cuba

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Closed-form expressions for the nine effective elastic constants of a binary fiber-reinforced
Received 11 June 2011 composite with transversely isotropic constituents with positive (conventional) and nega-
Received in revised form 18 October 2011 tive (auxetic) Poisson’s ratio are considered. Such formulae were obtained by means of the
Available online 7 February 2012
asymptotic homogenization method and were verified numerically with an independent
finite element model. The overall properties display explicit dependence on (i) the proper-
Keywords: ties of the constituents, (ii) the volume fraction or radius of inclusion and (iii) the array
Asymptotic homogenization
periodicity. They are finally obtained by solving a normal infinite symmetric linear system
Fiber-reinforced composites
Orthotropy
of algebraic equations by truncation to a relatively small order term. This allows a fast solu-
Auxetic composites tion and low computation cost. The overall orthotropy of the elastic properties is obtained
Auxeticity windows by varying the distance between the fibers in two of the principal directions leading to dif-
ferent spacial aspect ratio for fiber distribution. In addition to this, an analytical relation
between the effective properties based on the symmetry of the stiffness tensor is intro-
duced. With the previous elements, we present reliable predictions for auxetic and conven-
tional composites of this kind wherein a significant enhancement in Young’s modulus is
found in a composite with an auxetic matrix reinforced by conventional fibres. Finally,
we compute auxeticity windows (i.e., intervals of volume fraction where the composite
is auxetic) when the fibres are auxetic. It is reported that spacial fiber aspect ratio plays
a key role in the composite auxetic behavior.
Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction auxetic phases (Alderson et al., 2005; Chirima et al., 2009;

Composite materials are becoming most common in the
development of new and relevant technological applica-
tions. Recent research has shown that an enhancement in
their mechanical properties can be attained by introducing
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +52 55 5622 3544; fax: +52 55 5622
3564/5550 0047.
E-mail address: fjs@mym.iimas.unam.mx (F.J. Sabina).
Kocer et al., 2009; Lim, 2009; Ramírez and Sabina, 2012).
By definition, any auxetic material is one that exhibits a
negative Poisson’s ratio (Evans et al., 1991). Even though,
this fact has been known to exist for over 150 years (Love,
1944), and it is a documented property in some homoge-
neous cubic-crystals and their polymorphs (Ballato, 2010),
it was until 1987 when Lakes synthesized an auxetic foam
(Lakes, 1987) that these kind of materials became available
for novel technological applications. Due to the negative

0167-6636/$ - see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.mechmat.2012.01.004
2 G.G. Nava-Gómez et al. / Mechanics of Materials 48 (2012) 1–25

nature of their Poisson’s ratio, the auxetic materials exhibit displacements is also presented. With this relation a reduc-
better energy absorption, fracture toughness and indenta- tion of the number of local in-plane problems to be solved
tion resistance (Alderson and Coenen, 2008) and, for aniso- is obtained.
tropic materials, they also may have a negative thermal In order to prove that our analytical predictions are valid
expansion in some directions (Grima et al., 2010). In addi- for auxetic and conventional constituents, as it was done in
tion, some anisotropic foams may present Poisson ratios Nava-Gómez et al. (2010), we implement here an indepen-
whose values are much greater than unity (Lee and Lakes, dent FEM model in ANSYS 10.0 following the methodology
1997). reported by Berger et al. (2005). Also it is shown that the
There is theoretical evidence that, in certain cases, clas- elastic constants lie between the Hashin (1965) and Hill
sical linear elasticity has the ability to predict the effective (1964) upper and lower bounds as required. For the sake
properties of a composite material which has one or many of completeness, in Section 4.1, we make an initial compar-
auxetic phases (Kocer et al., 2009; Lim, 2009; Ramírez and ison with the conventional constituents of Dean and Turner
Sabina, 2012). Nonetheless, there is still limited knowledge (1973) and thereafter, we discuss the case in which one con-
about the stiffness of a composite material with one or stituent is auxetic. This comparison is made by taking into
more auxetic phases. In addition, there still are few models consideration the constituents employed by Chirima et al.
which predict all the effective properties of a composite (2009). Finally, we devote Section 4.2 to build auxeticity
from the knowledge of the physical characteristics, the windows (Wei and Edwards, 1998) in a composite material
amount and the distribution of their constituents (Nava- with an overall orthotropic symmetry.
Gómez et al., 2010) no matter whether their phases are
auxetic or not. Furthermore, if auxetic inclusions are con-
2. Problem statement
sidered, we can also find out the volume fraction of auxetic
inclusions which are required to obtain an overall auxetic
2.1. Elementary assumptions
composite (Wei and Edwards, 1998).
For a fibrous composite, the spatial distribution of their
In order to obtain an orthotropic composite material
constituents permits to establish, until some extent, a peri-
with transversely isotropic phases, a rectangular and peri-
odic structure. This allows one to model the composite
odic array of infinitely-long cylindrical fibers with a circular
with a representative volume of analysis (RVA) wherein
cross-section area embedded in a matrix is proposed. The
the predictions on the effective properties are obtained
RVA is shown in Fig. 1, the directions y1 and y2 are related
by means of a previously-defined averaging process. Typi-
to the plane view perpendicular to y3 which is the fiber axis,
cally, such a process is carried out by means of the finite
C denotes the interface between the matrix and fiber
element method (FEM) over a well-defined RVA wherein
phases which are perfectly welded. For this geometry, the
periodic loads are imposed (Suquet, 1987; Levy and Papaz-
rectangle aspect ratio b/a becomes a key quantity which
ian, 1990; Berger et al., 2005; Kalamkarov et al., 2006).
indicates the spacing between the fibers, that it is set equal
Once the finite element analysis is performed the state of
to one in the y1-direction and it is the source of the overall
stresses and deformations is obtained, then the effective
orthotropic symmetry; when b/a = 1 (square-symmetry), a
coefficients can be calculated.
tetragonal composite is obtained that has already been
The asymptotic homogenization method (AHM) has also
studied by Rodríguez-Ramos et al. (2001).
been used to address this kind of periodic problems in a rig-
From Fig. 1 it is also clear that cell’s total area is b/a,
orous and analytical manner (Bensoussan et al., 1978; Sán-
meanwhile the fiber volume fraction is V2 = pR2a/b, where
chez-Palencia, 1980; Kalamkarov and Kopalkov, 1997).
R is the radius of the cylindrical fiber. The percolation value
Based on a two-scale asymptotic expansion of the linear
is given by V2 = Vp = pa/4b, when cylinders are in contact in
elasticity equations, the effective properties are obtained
at least one point.
from the knowledge of the local displacements. For circu-
lar–cylindrical fibrous composites, the partial differential
equations obtained are solvable by means of doubly-
periodic harmonic functions (Pobedrya, 1984; Guinovart- y
2
Díaz et al., 2001; Rodríguez-Ramos et al., 2001; Sabina
et al., 2001; López-López et al., 2005; Camacho-Montes b/ 2a
et al., 2006; Nava-Gómez et al., 2010; Guinovart-Díaz
et al., 2011).
In this work, the problem of a periodic and rectangular Γ
array of infinitely-long cylindrical fibres with circular R
cross-section area is presented. This distribution provides, θ y
1
by means of Neumman’s principle, an orthotropic (P2mm) − 1/2 1/2
composite material (Nowick, 2005; Fuentes and Fuentes,
2008), a situation that is also present even when both con-
stituents are isotropic. The source of this kind of anisotropy
lies in the difference in the spacing between fibers in their − b/ 2a
two transversal directions. Here, we are presenting the
required expressions to compute all the nine elastic
effective properties. A relationship among local Fig. 1. Mesoscopic volume of analysis with characteristic dimensions.
 G.G. Nava-Gómez et al. / Mechanics of Materials 48 (2012) 1–25 3

2.2. Asymptotic homogenization displacements pqU(1) and pqU(2) in a manner that: (3), (4),
(5a) and (5b) are met. Due to the axial symmetry of the
As in Rodríguez-Ramos et al. (2001), the application of model, the evaluation of non-trivial cases of (3) shows that
the AHM leads to the effective properties formulae for each local problem may exhibit one or two zero-compo-
the stiffness tensor (see formulae above their Eq. (3.1a)) as nents for the displacements pqU(). From this, the local
ð Þ
D E D E problems can be classified as in-plane ðpq U 3 ¼ 0Þ, or
ð Þ ð Þ ð Þ
C ijpq ¼ C ijpq þ C ijkl pq U k;l ; ð1Þ ð Þ ð Þ
out-of-plane ðpq U 1 ¼ 0 and pq U 2 ¼ 0Þ. The correlation
between the local problems, their classification and the
where now the angle braces hi denote the local average effective properties that can be obtained is illustrated in
operator defined in terms of RVA’s volume jVj = b/a by Table 1.
Z
1 In addition, in the Section 3.4, we introduce a further
hfi ¼ fdV: ð2Þ simplification in the number of local problems to be
jVj V
solved, which is directly derived from the symmetry of
In (1) the summation convention is understood and the the effective stiffness tensor.
comma indicates a partial derivative relative to the yl com- Prior to solving each local problem, the use of doubly-
ponent. Here  denotes the material phase number (1–ma- periodic harmonic functions of a complex variable
trix, 2–fiber). Each component of the local displacement z = y1 + iy2 is advised. For the in-plane problems, the classi-
ð Þ ð Þ
pq U k;l ¼ pq U k;l ðyÞ depends on the solution of pq-canonical cal method of Kolosov–Muskhelishvili potentials (Muskhe-
problems, the nine so-called local problems pqL, which lishvili, 1953) will be used. In contrast, for the out-of-plane
are given below in (3)–(5). The preindex notation distin- problems, solutions for the y3 component of the displace-
guishes the component of local displacement, stress tensor ment are presented in terms of one harmonic potential.
and its associated local problem. In each problem the aspect ratio, b/a, can take any real va-
For the sake of simplicity, the two-index Voigt’s nota- lue inside the domain (0, 1) and the complex periods are
tion will be used when required and, in general, the Latin set to be x1 = (1, 0) and x2 = (0, b/a). The preindex pq
and Greek indices will vary from 1 to 3 and from 1 to 2, and the variable z will be used only when necessary.
respectively.
3. Analytical solution
2.3. Additional considerations
D E 3.1. The plane problems ppL
ð Þ
From (1), it is clear that C ijpq is Voigt’s average also
ð Þ
known as the simple rule of mixtures, meanwhile pq U k;l , acts It has been established that any plane problem can be
ð Þ
as a modulating function for C ijkl , the elastic properties of each solved by means of the Kolosov–Muskhelishvili potentials
constituent phase. Thus, taking into account the local version of a complex variable. In addition, the doubly-periodicity
ð Þ ð Þ ð Þ
of Hooke’s law, pq rij ¼ C ijkl pq U k;l , displacements pqU() are of the problem herein presented requires the displace-
sought such that the equilibrium equations are satisfied: ments to be doubly-periodic. Therefore, we propose this
ð Þ
kind of elastic potentials (a pair for each phase) in a similar
pq rij;j ¼ 0; ð3Þ manner as Pobedrya (1984) and Rodríguez-Ramos et al.
(2001).
inside the domain [1/2, 1/2]  [b/2a, b/2a], meanwhile
For a transversely isotropic material, the harmonic
the condition
D E potentials, /(z) and w(z), are related with the compo-
ð Þ ð Þ
pq U
ð Þ
¼0 ð4Þ nents of the displacements U 1 ðzÞ; U 2 ðzÞ and the stresses
rð
11
Þ
ðzÞ; r ð Þ
12 ðzÞ and rð Þ
22 ðzÞ (Sokolnikoff, 1956). Thus, condi-
grants the uniqueness of the solutions (Bensoussan et al., tions (5a) and (5b) can be expressed in terms of these
1978). potentials by means of the equivalent formulae (Rodrí-
In addition to (3) and (4), for perfectly bonded materi- guez-Ramos et al., 2001):
als, the welded contact condition implies that on the inter- h i
face C: vm j1 /1 ðtÞ  t/01 ðtÞ  w1 ðtÞ ¼ j2 /2 ðtÞ  t/02 ðtÞ  w2 ðtÞ
  ð7Þ
ð1Þ  
pq U  ¼ pq Uð2Þ  ; ð5aÞ
C C
   
 ð2Þ   ð Þ 
pq rð1Þ
ij nj   pq rij nj  ¼ C ijpq nj ; ð5bÞ
C C Table 1
Summary of the local problems pqL. The effective properties are indicated
where the symbol kk indicates the contrast between the with the two-index Voigt notation.
properties across the interface C, and is defined by:
Local problems Problem type Effective properties
ð Þ ð1Þ ð2Þ
kf k¼f f : ð6Þ 11L In-plane C 11 ; C 21 ; C 31
22L In-plane C 12 ; C 22 ; C 32
33L In-plane C 13 ; C 23 ; C 33
2.4. Remarks
12L = 21L In-plane C 66
13L = 31L Out-of-plane C 55
With these considerations and the pq-symmetry in (1),
23L = 32L Out-of-plane C 44
six local problems pqL are posed in order to find the
4 G.G. Nava-Gómez et al. / Mechanics of Materials 48 (2012) 1–25

Table 2 As stated, for these local problems, herein we propose

Elastic properties of the conventional and auxetic constituents according to the potentials as a linear combination of harmonic dou-
those reported by Dean and Turner (1973) and Chirima et al. (2009).
bly-periodic functions with unknown coefficients similar
Material Elastic property Units to those used by Rodríguez-Ramos et al. (2001):
C11 C12 C13 C33 C44
X1 ðk1Þ
0 ak f ðzÞ
LY558 epoxy 8.65 4.75 4.75 8.65 1.95 GPa /1 ðzÞ ¼ a0 z þ ; ð10aÞ
Carbon fibers 20.40 9.40 10.50 240.00 24.00 k¼1
ðk  1Þ!
PP 2.31 1.09 1.09 2.31 1.70
X1 ðk1Þ
ðzÞ X 1 ðk1Þ
Adhesive 161.54 69.23 69.23 161.54 46.15 MPa 0 bk f 0 ak Q ðzÞ
w1 ðzÞ ¼ b0 z þ þ ð10bÞ
k¼1
ðk  1Þ! k¼1
ðk  1Þ!

for the matrix phase and

for (5a), and X
1
  /2 ðzÞ ¼ 0
ck zk ; ð11aÞ
 
/ ðtÞ þ t/0 ðtÞ þ w ðtÞ ¼ k1 ðpÞt þ k2 ðpÞt ð8Þ k¼1
X1
0
for (5b), respectively. w2 ðzÞ ¼ dk zk ð11bÞ
In the previous relations t = Reih is any value of z on the k¼1

interface C, the prime symbol indicates a derivative with

for the fiber.
respect to the complex variable z, the overline is the com-
In the foregoing definitions f(k1)(z) denotes the doubly-
plex conjugate whilst the remaining parameters: j, vm,
periodic (k  1)th derivative of the Weierstrass Zeta quasi-
k1(p) and k2(p) are defined as follows:
periodic function f(z), Q(k1)(z) is the doubly-periodic
ð Þ
4C 66 (k  1)th derivative of Natanzon’s doubly-periodic func-
j ¼ 1 þ ; ð9aÞ P
ð Þ
C 11 þ C 12
ð Þ tion, and the symbol 0 indicates a sum over the indices
k = 1, 3, 5, . . ., meanwhile coefficients a0, b0, ar, br, cr and
ð2Þ
C 66 dr (r = 1, 3, 5,. . .) are all real and undefined (Grigolyuk and
vm ¼ ð1Þ
; ð9bÞ
Filshtinskii, 1970).
C 66
Next, by taking into consideration the double periodic-
ð Þ ð Þ
kC 2p þ C 1p k ity of matrix displacements ppU(1) and using Legendre’s
k1 ðpÞ ¼ ; ð9cÞ
2 relation it is found that coefficients a0 and b0 are related
ð Þ ð Þ to a1 and b1 as follows:
kC 2p  C 1p k
k2 ðpÞ ¼ ð9dÞ
2 a0 ¼ Aa a1 þ Ab b1 ; ð12aÞ
for p = 1, 2, 3. Note that j, vm and k1(p) are positive. b0 ¼ Ba a1 þ Bb b1 ; ð12bÞ

C11 AHM-Sq
C11 FEM-Sq
C11 AHM-Rct
16 C11 FEM-Rct
C22 AHM-Rct
C22 FEM-Rct
Property Value (in GPa)

14

12

10

8
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7
V2

Fig. 2. Plots of composite stiffness moduli C 11 and C 22 obtained by AHM and FEM when b/a = 1.25 (rectangular-RVA) and b/a = 1 (square-RVA) against fiber
volume fraction V2. The fiber-reinforced material considered is Modmor type II carbon fibers in LY558 epoxy resin. The percolation volume fractions are p/4
and p/5 for the square and rectangular cells, respectively.
 G.G. Nava-Gómez et al. / Mechanics of Materials 48 (2012) 1–25 5

(a) 9 C13 AHM-Sq

C13 FEM-Sq
C13 AHM-Rct
C13 FEM-Rct
C23 AHM-Rct
C23 FEM-Rct
8
Property Value (in GPa)

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7

V2

(b) C44 AHM-Sq

C44 FEM-Sq
C44 AHM-Rct
C44 FEM-Rct
12 C55 AHM-Rct
C55 FEM-Rct
Property Value (in GPa)

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7

V2

Fig. 3. Same as Fig. 2 for: (a) C 13 and C 23 , (b) C 44 and C 55 .

where the constants Aa, Ab, Ba and Bb are all real and dimen- Laurent series for /1(z) and w1(z) are:
sionless, and they are:
!
X1 X1 X1
0 al 0 0 l
p /1 ðzÞ ¼ a0 z þ l
 ka g
k kl z ; ð14aÞ
Aa ¼  d1 ; ð13aÞ l¼1
z l¼1 k¼1
b=a !
X1 X1 X1
0 bl 0 0
p w1 ðzÞ ¼ b0 z þ l
þ kð a q
k kl  b g
k kl Þ zl ; ð14bÞ
Ab ¼ ; ð13bÞ z
b=aðj1  1Þ l¼1 l¼1 k¼1

where gkl and qkl are defined as:

pðj1  1Þ
Ba ¼ þ d1  c1 ; ð13cÞ g11 ¼ q11 ¼ 0; ð15aÞ
b=a
p ðk þ l  1Þ!Skþl
Bb ¼  d1 ¼ Aa ; ð13dÞ gkl ¼ glk ¼ ; ð15bÞ
b=a k!l!
ðk þ lÞ!T kþlþ1
qkl ¼ qlk ¼ : ð15cÞ
wherein d1 = 2f(1/2) and c1 = 2Q(1/2). k!l!
6 G.G. Nava-Gómez et al. / Mechanics of Materials 48 (2012) 1–25

(a) 8
AHM-C12
5
FEM-C12
AHM-C66
FEM-C66

7
4
C 12 (in GPa)

C66 (in GPa)

6

4
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6
V2

(b) 160 C33 AHM

C33 FEM
140

120
Property Value (in GPa)

100

80

60

40

20

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6

V2

Fig. 4. Same as Fig. 3 when b/a = 1.25. (a) C 12 (shown in the left scale), C 66 (right scale) and (b) C 33 .

In the previous definitions, S2r and T2r+1 (r = 2, 3, 4, . . .) are around C. Using (11a), (11b) and U(1) = U(2) = U on C, by
the real lattice sums associated to f(z) and Q(z), respec- means of the orthogonality of the trigonometric functions
tively. These sums are defined in terms of the lattice we obtain:
parameter Xmn as follows: I
p R2
2 U 1 dy2 ¼ ð#1 þ #2 Þ; ð17aÞ
Xmn ¼ mx1 þ nx2 ; ðm; nÞ 2 Z ; ð16aÞ C
ð1Þ
2C 66
X
0 I
S2r ¼
1
; ð16bÞ
p R2
2r U 2 dy1 ¼ ð1Þ
ð#1  #2 Þ; ð17bÞ
8ðm;nÞ ðXmn Þ C 2C 66
X
0
Xmn
T 2rþ1 ¼ ; ð16cÞ where the parameters #1 and #2 are defined as:
8ðm;nÞ ðXmn Þ2rþ1 !
3R2 c3 þ d1
whereas the prime symbol indicates that the summation #1 ¼  ; ð18aÞ
vm
excludes the case m = n = 0.  
ðj2  1Þc1
The application of Green’s theorem to (1) in the RVA #2 ¼  : ð18bÞ
and the continuity condition (5a) leads to line integrals vm
 G.G. Nava-Gómez et al. / Mechanics of Materials 48 (2012) 1–25 7

Therefore, the evaluation of (1) for the three in-plane prob- It should be noticed that Eqs. (21a)–(21d) and (23)
lems ppDL is: E represent infinite linear systems from which we can cal-
ð Þ
C ijpp ¼ C ijpp culate the sought coefficients. Furthermore, from (22)
n o we obtain an explicit expression to evaluate the sum
V2 ð Þ ð Þ ð Þ ð Þ 3R2c3 + d1, which appears in (18a), in terms of a1.
 ð1Þ
kC ij11  C ij22 kpp #1 þ kC ij11 þ C ij22 kpp #2 :
2C 1212 However, in order to obtain an equivalent linear infinite
ð19Þ system with a simpler implementation, as in López-López
et al. (2005), we introduce here a rescaling of the coeffi-
From the previous equations, it is clear that the effective
cients ar, br, cr and dr (r = 1, 3, 5, . . .) similar to that
properties depend on the value of the coefficients c1, c3 and
proposed by McPhedran and McKenzie (1980) for the
d1 of the potentials. Thus, by making the substitution of
dielectric problem:
(14a), (14b), (11a) and (11b) into (7) and (8), after algebraic
manipulations on the powers of eiqh (q = ±1, ±3, ±5, . . .), a set a0r Rr
of relations which determines all the coefficients of the ar ¼ p ffiffiffi ; ð24aÞ
r
herein proposed potentials is found. Thus, by taking into
0
consideration the next definitions of dimensionless con- b r Rr
br ¼ p ffiffiffi ; ð24bÞ
stants (Pobedrya, 1984): r
 
V2 1 c0
a0 ¼ vm V 1 þ ðj2  1Þ þ ; ð20aÞ cr ¼ pffiffiffir r ; ð24cÞ
j1  1 2 rR
j2  vm j1 0
A¼ ; ð20bÞ d
j2 þ vm dr ¼ pffiffiffir r : ð24dÞ
rR
v 1
B¼ m ; ð20cÞ
vm j1 þ 1 A direct consequence of this rescaling is that (23)
v ðj1  1Þ  ðj2  1Þ with (21a) and (21b) can be represented now in terms
C¼ m ; ð20dÞ of symmetric matrices. Furthermore, it is important to
a0
note here that, to our knowledge, this is the first time
v ðj1 þ 1Þ that this rescaling is performed for an in-plane problem.
D¼ m ; ð20eÞ
vm þ j2 The Eqs. (24b)–(24d) were derived from a dimensional
j2  1 analysis of the quantities herein considered. With this,
E¼ ; ð20fÞ
2a0 all the rescaled coefficients have now the same dimen-
sions as their respective potentials (force per unit of
wherein V1 = 1  V2 is the matrix volume fraction, we obtain
length).
the significant relations from the positive powers of eiqh:
Now, by introducing the next dimensionless quantities
! pffiffiffiffi kþl
b1 X
1
wkl ¼ wlk ¼ klR gkl ; ð25aÞ
0
¼ C Aa a1  kak gk1  Ek1 ðpÞ; ð21aÞ
R2 k¼1 qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
X
1 hkl ¼ hlk ¼ ðl þ 2Þlwkðlþ2Þ þ ðk þ 2Þkwðkþ2Þl
blþ2 2lþ2
¼ lal þ AR 0
kak gkðlþ2Þ ; ð21bÞ pffiffiffiffi kþlþ2
R2 k¼1
klR ðk þ l þ 2Þ!Skþlþ2
¼ ; ð25bÞ
" !# ðk þ 1Þ!ðl þ 1Þ!
v X1
0
c1 ¼ m V 1 k1 ðpÞ þ ðj1 þ 1Þ Aa a1  kak gk1 ; ð21cÞ
2a0 k¼1
X
1
0
r kl ¼ r lk ¼ wkðjþ2Þ wðjþ2Þl ; ð25cÞ
X
1
j¼1
0
clþ2 ¼ D kak gkðlþ2Þ ð21dÞ
k¼1 pffiffiffiffi kþl
g kl ¼ g lk ¼ klR qkl ; ð25dÞ
for the br and cr coefficients (r = 1, 3, 5,. . .) in terms of the ar
coefficients, meanwhile, from the manipulations of the A0 ¼ Ba R2 þ CAa Bb R4 ; ð25eÞ
negative powers of eiqh we obtain the relations:
Bl ¼ Bb R2 dl1  w1l ; ð25fÞ
2 v k2 ðpÞdl1 1 al
ðl þ 2ÞR clþ2 þ dl ¼ m þ ð22Þ
vm  1 B R2l after some algebraic manipulations, we write (23) with
(21a) and (21b) as follows:
and
" # a0l h i X 1

al X1 X1 þ CAa R2 w1l  A0 dl1 a01 þ 0 0

ak fhkl þ Ar kl þ CBl wk1  g kl g
2l
þ R Ba d1l a1 þ 0 2
kak ðl þ 2Þ R gkðlþ2Þ  0
kak qkl B k¼1
B k¼1 k¼1
 
" # k2 ðpÞdl1
X ¼ R EBl k1 ðpÞ  ; ð26Þ
1
R2l k2 ðpÞd1l vm  1
þ R2l Bb d1l b1 þ 0
kbk gkl ¼  ; ð23Þ
k¼1
vm  1
which is an expression that can be written in terms of the
wherein dl1 is Kronecker’s delta. next matrix equation:
8 G.G. Nava-Gómez et al. / Mechanics of Materials 48 (2012) 1–25

(a) 700 C11 AHM

C11 FEM
C22 AHM
C22 FEM
600 C33 AHM
C33 FEM

Effective property (in MPa)

500

400

300

200

100
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
Fiber volume fraction

(b) 100

0
Effective property (in MPa)

-100

-200

-300

-400
C13 AHM
C13 FEM
C23 AHM
C23 FEM
-500
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
Fiber volume fraction

Fig. 5. Plots for the effective properties against the fiber volume fraction V2. (a) C 11 ; C 22 and C 33 , (b) C 13 , and C 23 . The composite is an adhesive matrix
reinforced by an auxetic melt-extruded polypropylene fiber in a rectangular RVA with an aspect ratio of 1.5.

 
I
þ J A ¼ E; ð27Þ p11 ¼ Ba R2 ð29aÞ
B
pkl ¼ 0 elsewhere; ð29bÞ
wherein the calligraphic symbols denote a matrix or a vec- 4
tor of infinite order.
f11 ¼ Aa Bb R ; ð29cÞ
In (27) the symbol I is the identity matrix, A is a vector fk1 ¼ Bb wk1 R2 for k > 1; ð29dÞ
with elements a0l and J ðjkl Þ is a symmetric matrix defined
2
in terms of the sum f1l ¼ Aa w1l R for l > 1; ð29eÞ
J ¼ H þ AR  G  P þ CF ð28Þ fkl ¼ flk ¼ w1l wk1 for k and l > 1: ð29fÞ

wherein the matrices H; R and G have elements hkl, rkl and It is important to remark here that, since Aa = Bb, the
gkl, respectively. For matrices P and F we have: matrix F is symmetric and consequently the symmetry
 G.G. Nava-Gómez et al. / Mechanics of Materials 48 (2012) 1–25 9

(a) C44 AHM

C44 FEM
500 C55 AHM
C55 FEM

Effective property (in MPa) 400

300

200

100

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5

Fiber volume fraction

(b) 110 C66 AHM

C66 FEM
C12 AHM
100 C12 FEM

90
Effective property (in MPa)

80

70

60

50

40

30
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
Fiber volume fraction

Fig. 6. Same as Fig. 5. (a) C 44 and C 55 , (b) C 66 and C 12 .

of J is proven. Furthermore, the matrices in (28) have a

geometrical dependence of R2 or rather V2 and the period- ð31Þ
icity through the lattice sums, whereas matrices R and F
are the only ones that are multiplied by a constant related wherein the superscript T denotes transpose. Here, the cal-
to the properties of the constituents. ligraphic symbols C; V m and V p are infinite order vectors,
Now, for the vector E we have: whereas Mm is an infinite order matrix. All of them are de-
fined as
 

k2 ðpÞ CT ¼ a03 a05 a07 ... ; ð32aÞ

e1 ¼ R EBb R2 k1 ðpÞ þ ; ð30aÞ
vm  1 V Tm ¼ ½j13 j15 j17 . . .; ð32bÞ
el ¼ ERk1 ðpÞw1l for l > 1: ð30bÞ V Tp ¼ ½w13 w15 w17 . . .; ð32cÞ
With the previous elements, the Eq. (27) can be partitioned I
Mm ¼ þ J sub ; ð32dÞ
in blocks as: B
10 G.G. Nava-Gómez et al. / Mechanics of Materials 48 (2012) 1–25

(a) 2400 C11 AHM

C11 FEM
C22 AHM
C22 FEM
C33 AHM
2000 C33 FEM

Effective property (in MPa)

1600

1200

800

400

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5

Fiber volume fraction

(b) 200
C12 AHM
C12 FEM
C13 AHM
C13 FEM
0 C23 AHM
C23 FEM

-200
Effective property (in MPa)

-400

-600

-800

-1000

-1200
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
Fiber volume fraction

Fig. 7. Plots for the effective properties against the fiber volume fraction V2. (a) C 11 ; C 22 , and C 33 , (b) C 12 ; C 13 and C 23 . The composite is an auxetic
polypropylene matrix containing conventional adhesive fibers in a rectangular RVA with an aspect ratio of 1.5.

2 3
j33 j35 j37 ... Finally, by taking into consideration the rescaled ver-
6j j55 j57 ...7 sions of (22) and (21c), after algebraic manipulations, we
6 35 7
J sub ¼6
6 j37 j57 j77
7
. . . 7: ð32eÞ obtain from (18a) and (18b) for #1 and #2:
4 5  
.. .. .. .. k2 ðpÞ a0
. . . . #1 ¼  þ 1 ; ð34aÞ
vm  1 vm BR
Thus, by solving the linear system (31) we obtain:
h   i 2a0 Ec01
BR Ek1 ðpÞ Bb R2 þ V Tm M1 k2 ðpÞ #2 ¼ ; ð34bÞ
m V p þ v 1 vm R
a01 ¼ m
: ð33Þ
1 þ B½j11  V Tm M1
m Vm where
 G.G. Nava-Gómez et al. / Mechanics of Materials 48 (2012) 1–25 11

(a) 1800
C44 AHM
C44 FEM
C55 AHM
1600 C55 FEM

1400
Effective property (in MPa)
1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5

Fiber volume fraction

(b) 1800
AHM
FEM
1600

1400

1200
C 66 (MPa)

1000

800

600

400

200

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5

Fiber volume fraction

Fig. 8. Same as Fig. 7. (a) C 44 ; C 55 and (b) C 66 .

v n  
c01 ¼ m Rk1 ðpÞ V 1  Eðj1 þ 1ÞV Tp M1 the Kolosov–Muskhelishvili potentials among in-plane lo-
m Vp
2a0 cal problems (Pobedrya, 1984):
  o
þ ðj1 þ 1Þ Aa R2 þ V Tp M1 0
m V m a1 : ð35Þ ¼ i12 / ðzÞ;
pp / ðzÞ ð36aÞ
Hence, the effective properties C ijpp of each local problem pp w ðzÞ ¼ i12 w ðzÞ: ð36bÞ
ppL, p = 1,2,3 according to Table 1 follow from (19) by So, a translation of the conditions (7) and (8) for 12/(t)
substituting (34a) and (34b). Note that it is only necessary and 12w(t) in terms of pp/(t) and ppw(t) is
to find a1.
h i
vm j1 pp /1 ðtÞ þ tpp /01 ðtÞ þ pp w1 ðtÞ ¼ j2 pp /2 ðtÞ þ tpp /02 ðtÞ þ pp w2 ðtÞ;
3.2. The plane problem 12L
ð37aÞ
 
Once the plane problems ppL (p = 1, 2, 3) have been   ð Þ
pp / ðtÞ  t pp /0 ðtÞ  pp w ðtÞ ¼ kC 66 kt ð37bÞ
solved, it is easier to solve the plane problem 12L. This
can be realized by means of the next relationship between for the conditions (5a) and (5b), respectively.
12 G.G. Nava-Gómez et al. / Mechanics of Materials 48 (2012) 1–25

(a) 0.4 ν12

ν13
ν23
0.3

0.2

0.1
Effective Poisson’s ratio
0

-0.1

-0.2

-0.3

-0.4

-0.5

-0.6

-0.7

-0.8
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
Fiber volume fraction

(b) 0
ν12
ν13
-0.1 ν23

-0.2

-0.3
Effective Poisson’s ratio

-0.4

-0.5

-0.6

-0.7

-0.8

-0.9

-1
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
Fiber volume fraction

Fig. 9. Analytical predictions for the effective Poisson ratios m12 ; m13 and m23 in terms of the fiber volume fraction V2. (a) Conventional matrix reinforced by
auxetic fibers. (b) Auxetic matrix reinforced by conventional fibers. Both cases are related to a rectangular RVA with an aspect ratio of 1.5 with the isotropic
constituents listed in Table 2.

Now, doubly-periodicity leads to: pðj1 þ 1Þ

B0a ¼ d1  c1  ; ð39cÞ
b=a
12 a0¼ A0a 12 a1 þ A0b 12 b1 ; ð38aÞ p
B0b ¼  d1 ¼ A0a ¼ Bb ð39dÞ
b
12 0 ¼ B0a 12 a1 þ B0b 12 b1 ; ð38bÞ b=a
are real dimensionless constants. Meanwhile the evalua-
where tion of (1) for the 12L in-plane problem is:
p a1
A0a ¼  d 1 ¼ Aa ; ð39aÞ ð1Þ
C 66 ¼ C 66  V 2 ðj1 þ 1Þ : ð40Þ
b=a R2
p
A0b ¼  ; ð39bÞ Thus, following a similar procedure to the ppL problems,
ðj1 þ 1Þb=a
we find the next set of relationships:
 G.G. Nava-Gómez et al. / Mechanics of Materials 48 (2012) 1–25 13

" #
b1 ¼ 0; ð41aÞ al X1 X1
þ R2l B0a dl1 a1  0
kak ðl þ 2ÞR2 gkðlþ2Þ  0
kak qkl
blþ2 X
1 B
2
¼ lal  AR2lþ2 0
kak gkðlþ2Þ ; ð41bÞ "
k¼1
#
k¼1
R k¼1 X 1
R 2l
kC
ð Þ
kd l1
" #  R2l 0
kbk gkl ¼ 66
: ð42Þ
vm ðj1 þ 1Þ 0 X1
0 k¼1
vm  1
c1 ¼ Aa a1  kak gk1 ; ð41cÞ
j2 þ 1 k¼1 Finally, with the rescaling (24a)–(24d) of the coeffi-
clþ2 X
1
cients, we obtain:
¼ D 0 kak gkðlþ2Þ ð41dÞ
R2 a0l X1 ð Þ
RkC 66 kdl1
k¼1
þ B0a R2 dl1 a01  0 0
ak fhkl  Ar kl  g kl g ¼ ; ð43Þ
B k¼1
vm  1
and the infinite linear system

(a) 340
E1
E2
320 E3

300

280
Young’s module (in MPa)

260

240

220

200

180

160

140

120
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
Fiber volume fraction

(b) 460
E1
E2
E3
440

420
Young’s module (in MPa)

400

380

360

340

320
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
Fiber volume fraction

Fig. 10. Analytical predictions for the variation of Young’s moduli E1 ; E2 and E3 against the fiber volume fraction V2. (a) Conventional matrix reinforced by
auxetic fibers. (b) Auxetic matrix reinforced by conventional fibers. Both cases are related to a rectangular RVA with an aspect ratio of 1.5 with the isotropic
constituents listed in Table 2.
14 G.G. Nava-Gómez et al. / Mechanics of Materials 48 (2012) 1–25

wherein the matrix components hkl, rkl and gkl are those de- wherein the matrices H; R and G are those defined previ-
fined previously in (25b)–(25d), respectively. Therefore, ously whilst P 0 is taken as
the system (43) can be written as the matrix equation
  p011 ¼ B0a R2 ð46aÞ
I
 J 0 A ¼ E0; ð44Þ p0kl ¼ 0 elsewhere: ð46bÞ
B
wherein the calligraphic symbols have the same meaning As in Section 3.1, all the geometrical dependences, V2
0
as in Section 3.1. Here, J 0 ðjkl Þ is a symmetric matrix defined and periodicity, of J 0 are indicated by matrices H; R; G
by the sum and P 0 . Here, the matrix R is the only one which is multi-
plied by a constant related to the properties. For the
J 0 ¼ H  A R  G þ P0; ð45Þ square-symmetry RVA studied by Rodríguez-Ramos et al.

(a) 640
K12- UB
★
K -AHM
K12- LB

540
Plane strain bulk modulus (in MPa)

440

340

240

140
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7
Fiber volume fraction

(b) 1700
μ12- UB
1550 μ12-AHM
μ12- LB
1400
In-plane shear modulus μ12 (in MPa)

1250

1100

950

800

650

500

350

200

50
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7
Fiber volume fraction

Fig. 11. Effective (a) plane strain bulk modulus and (b) in-plane shear modulus, with their upper (UB) and lower (LB) bounds. The composite is an auxetic
matrix reinforced with conventional fibers when b/a = 1.
 G.G. Nava-Gómez et al. / Mechanics of Materials 48 (2012) 1–25 15

(2001), the matrices P and P 0 are zero, therefore J and J 0 wherein Re(z) and Im(z) are, respectively, the real and
can be written in terms of a common matrix Z ¼ H  G as: imaginary part of the complex variable z, whereas all the
Z þ A R þ C F and Z  A R, respectively. coefficients to be found are real.
For the infinite order vector E 0 we have By means of the double-periodicity of the matrix dis-
ð Þ placements and Legendre’s relation we obtain:
RkC 66 k
e01 ¼ ; ð47aÞ
vm  1 13 a0 ¼ d113 a1 ; ð52aÞ
e0r ¼ 0 ð47bÞ  
2p
23 a0 ¼ d1 þ 23 a1 : ð52bÞ
b=a
for r = 3, 5, 7,. . .
Finally, since a1 ¼ a01 =R, Eq. (40) can be evaluated in Now, from (5a) and (1) we obtain two expressions that
closed-form. Here a01 is given by equate coefficients 13ar with 13br and 23ar with 23br
(r = 1, 3, 5, . . .). So, using Green’s theorem and the orthogo-
ð Þ
RkC 66 k
nality of the trigonometric functions, we find that:
vm j1 þ1
a01 ¼ h i; ð48Þ
1 þ B j11  ðV 0m ÞT ðM0m Þ1 V 0m
0  
ð1Þ 2p23 a1
C 44 ¼ C 44 1 þ ; ð53aÞ
b=a
 
where ð1Þ 2p13 a1
C 55 ¼ C 55 1  : ð53bÞ
0
T
b=a
0 0
V 0m
¼ j13 j15 j17 ... ; ð49aÞ
Next, the evaluation of (5b), after algebraic manipula-
I tions, leads to the infinite rescaled linear systems:
M0m ¼ þ J 0sub ; ð49bÞ
B
2 0 3 X
1
0 0
j33 j35 j37 ...
0
13 al þ vp R2 13 a00 dl1 þ vp 0 0
13 ak wkl ¼ vp Rdl1 ; ð54aÞ
6 0 7 k¼1
6j 0 0
...7
6 35 j55 j57 7 X1
0 6
J sub ¼ 6 0 7: ð49cÞ 0
 vp R2 23 a00 dl1  vp 0 0
¼ vp Rdl1 ;
0 0
...7 23 al 23 ak wkl ð54bÞ
6 j37 j57 j77 7 k¼1
4 5
.. .. .. ..
. . . .
where wkl was previously defined in (25a) and vp is a
parameter which depends on the properties and, for trans-
Hence the effective property C 66 is derived.
versely isotropic constituents, is defined by:

3.3. The antiplane problems ð1Þ ð2Þ

C 44  C 44
vp ¼ ð1Þ ð2Þ
: ð55Þ
For the remaining local problems, we have previously C 44 þ C 44
reported an advance in Nava-Gómez et al. (2010). There, With this, we finally obtain the closed-form expressions
we used the coarse approximation d1 = p in Legendre’s for the effective stiffnesses C 44 and C 55 :
relationship instead of using a more accurate value. Thus,
in order to compute a finer value for d1, we use the next 2V 2 vp
C 44
series throughout this paper (Walker, 1996; Weil, 1999): ¼1 ; ð56aÞ
ð1Þ
C 44 1 þ ð2V 2  d1 R2 Þvp  v2p V Tp M1
p Vp
(  )
1 X1
inpb C 55 2V 2 vp
d1 ¼ p2 þ2 csc2 : ð50Þ ¼1 ; ð56bÞ
3 n¼1
a ð1Þ
C 55 1 þ d1 R 2
vp  v2p V Tp N 1
p Vp

Now, for the sake of completeness, we obtain the solution wherein V p is the infinite order vector defined in (32c) and
for the 13L and 23L problems. Starting with the representa-
tion of the displacements: Mp ¼ I  W; ð57aÞ
( ) N p ¼ I þ W; ð57bÞ
ð1Þ
X
1
fðk1Þ ðzÞ
0
13 U 3 ¼ Re 13 a0 z þ 13 ak ; ð51aÞ 2 3
k¼1
ðk  1Þ! w33 w35 w37 ...
( ) 6w w55 w57 ...7
X1 6 35 7
ð2Þ
13 U 3 ¼ Re
0
13 bk z
k
; ð51bÞ W¼6
6 w37 w57 w77 ...7
7: ð57cÞ
k¼1
4 5
.. .. .. ..
( ) . . . .
ð1Þ
X
1
fðk1Þ ðzÞ
0
23 U 3 ¼ Im 23 a0 z þ 23 ak ; ð51cÞ The closed-form expressions obtained in Sections 3.1,
k¼1
ðk  1Þ!
3.2, 3.3 for the effective coefficients show an explicit
( )
X1 dependence on: (a) The elastic stiffnesses of the constitu-
ð2Þ 0 k
23 U 3 ¼ Im 23 bk z ; ð51dÞ ents, (b) the volumetric fraction of the fiber material phase
k¼1 and, (c) the periodicity of the array.
16 G.G. Nava-Gómez et al. / Mechanics of Materials 48 (2012) 1–25

3.4. Relationship among effective properties in-plane local simple manner is the above mentioned expression. Fur-
problems thermore, these relations are equivalent to the ones re-
ported by Rodríguez-Ramos et al. (2001). In the before
From (1) and the local version of Hooke’s law, the sym- mentioned publication, three local problems are solved in
metry of the stiffness tensor C ijpq ¼D C pqij can
E beD expressed E in a RVA with square-symmetry and universal relations
ð Þ ð Þ
terms of the local stresses as pq rij ¼ ij rpq . Thus, among the five Hill’s elastic effective constants (Hill,
when considering the foregoing symmetry relationship 1964), for transversely isotropic materials, are presented.
for the effective properties C 12 ; C 13 ; C 21 ; C 23 ; C 31 and C 32 ,
from the properties of the averaging operator (2), we ob-
tain the following combinations among local stresses: 4. Results and discussion
D E D E
11 rð22Þ þ 11 rð33Þ ¼ 22 rð11Þ þ 33 rð11Þ ; ð58aÞ 4.1. Model validation
D E D E
ð Þ ð Þ ð Þ ð Þ
22 r þ 22 r
11 33 ¼ 11 r þ 33 r
22 22 ; ð58bÞ
4.1.1. Comparison between the AHM and FEM predictions
D E D E
ð Þ
r þ 33 r ð Þ
¼
ð Þ
r þ 22 r ð Þ
ð58cÞ In the present subsection, an independent FEM evalua-
33 11 22 11 33 33
tion following the methodology reported by Berger et al.
from which, we are able to state the identity: (2005) is implemented. For the effective coefficient C 33
we use the Eq. (61) in the FEM calculations. For the AHM
ð Þ ð Þ
hpp rii i ¼ hii rpp i ðfixed p sum on iÞ: ð59Þ evaluations, we compute six local problems (see Table 1).
Matrix constituent is taken as an isotropic epoxy resin
Thus, by means of Green’s theorem and the condition
LY558 which is reinforced by transversely isotropic carbon
(5a) on C, after making the comparison among the inte-
fibers Modmor type II (Dean and Turner, 1973). For the
grands that appear on the evaluation of (58a)–(58c) for
auxetic case we tested two configurations from the constit-
transversely isotropic constituents, we obtain the follow-
uents reported in Chirima et al. (2009) which are: (a) A
ing relations among in-plane local problems:
conventional matrix reinforced by auxetic fibers and (b)
 
ð Þ ð Þ ð Þ an auxetic matrix reinforced by conventional fibers. Here,
kC 11 k 22 U 1 þ 33 U 1
ð Þ
11 U 1 ¼ ; ð60aÞ the auxetic phase is the isotropic melt-extruded polypro-
ð Þ ð Þ
kC 12 þ C 13 k pylene (PP) reported by Chirima et al. (2008) whereas the
 
ð Þ ð Þ ð Þ non-auxetic phase is an isotropic adhesive. Table 2 shows
kC 12 k 22 U 2 þ 33 U 2
ð Þ the elastic properties of the above mentioned constituents.
11 U 2 ¼ ð Þ ð Þ
; ð60bÞ
kC 11 þ C 13 k A RVA with an aspect ratio of 1.25 is firstly considered
 
ð Þ ð Þ ð Þ with conventional constituents. As expected by Neum-
kC 12 k 11 U 1 þ 33 U 1
ð Þ man’s principle, the orthotropy of the composite is found
22 U 1 ¼ ð Þ ð Þ
; ð60cÞ
kC 11 þ C 13 k by both AHM and FEM. This situation is shown in Fig. 2
 
ð Þ ð Þ ð Þ for C 11 and C 22 whereas Fig. 3(a) and (b) illustrate this fact
kC 11 k 11 U 2 þ 33 U 2
ð Þ for the coefficients C 13 ; C 23 ; C 44 and C 55 . In these figures, the
22 U 2 ¼ ð Þ ð Þ
; ð60dÞ
kC 12 þ C 13 k square-symmetry case (b/a = 1) is also shown. As it is de-
 
ð Þ ð Þ ð Þ picted, C 11 – C 22 ; C 13 – C 23 and C 44 – C 55 when the aspect
kC 13 k 11 U 1 þ 22 U 1
ð Þ ratio differs from unity.
33 U 1 ¼ ð Þ ð Þ
; ð60eÞ
kC 11 þ C 12 k Fig. 4(a) and (b) show the predictions for the remaining
  elastic constants in the rectangular-symmetry case.
ð Þ ð Þ ð Þ
kC 13 k 11 U 2 þ 22 U 2
ð Þ Fig. 4(b) clearly evidences the validity of the relationship
33 U 2 ¼ ð Þ ð Þ
: ð60fÞ
kC 11 þ C 12 k (61) used in our FEM calculations. It is noteworthy the
excellent agreement between AHM and FEM predictions
From these relations, it is clear that one of the displace-
when the constituents are conventional. Therefore, we
ments 11U(), 22U() and 33U() can be obtained from the
are confident that the AHM predictions are valid when
knowledge of the other two. Therefore, we can reduce
both constituents have a positive Poisson’s ratio.
the number of local problems to be solved, from six to five.
Now, for the case of an adhesive isotropic matrix rein-
We derived herein an expression to compute C 33 from the
forced by isotropic and auxetic PP fibers we took into con-
knowledge of the coefficients C 13 and C 23 by means of (1)
sideration a cell with an aspect ratio of 1.5 (Vp = p/6).
and the derivatives of (60e) and (60f). This is:
Fig. 5(a) and (b), Fig. 6(a) and (b) show the predictions of
D E
ð Þ both methodologies for the effective properties. Here
C 33  C 33 ð Þ
kC k
D E ¼ ð Þ 13 ð Þ ; ð61Þ again, the orthotropic character of the composite is verified
ð Þ ð Þ
C 13 þ C 23  C 13 þ C 23 kC 11 þ C 12 k even when both constituents are isotropic whereas an
excellent agreement among the two methodologies is also
without having to solve the local problem 33L. shown.
It is noteworthy that relations (60a)–(60f) allow us to Furthermore, as is shown in Fig. 5(b), C 13 and C 23 be-
construct additional cross-connections among in-plane lo- come negative after a certain volume fraction. This is an
cal problems. However, for an orthotropic composite with indicator of auxeticity in the composite material. We note
transversely isotropic constituents, the connection which that C12 = C13 = C23 = k = Em/(1 + m)(1  2m) for an isotropic
reduces the number of local problems to be solved in a material, k being one of Lamé’s constants, E Young’s
 G.G. Nava-Gómez et al. / Mechanics of Materials 48 (2012) 1–25 17

modulus and m Poisson’s ratio. Then, if m < 0, k < 0 and C12, of the composite material are negative. This is illustrated in
C13, C23 being negative, thus auxetic. It is remarkable that Fig. 9(a). Also the enhancement effect of Young’s moduli,
C 12 has its maximum value near to those values of V2 that is, effective Young’s moduli being larger than any of
wherein C 13 and C 23 turn out negative (between V2 = 0.20 the constituents is shown in Fig. 10(b) for the three
and 0.23). In addition, when C 13 and C 23 are negative, C 33 Young’s moduli of the composite.
take bigger values than C 22 (see Fig. 5(a)). Therefore, there Similarly, for the case of an auxetic matrix reinforced by
is a connection among the signs of C 13 and C 23 with C 33 conventional fibers, we study again a cell whose aspect ra-
which can be proved by means of relation (61). Another tio is 1.5. Our simulation results are shown in Fig. 7(a) and
interesting result for this case is that the value of C 11 is (b), Fig. 8(a) and (b). Here, the effective properties C pp
not surpassed by C 33 until V2 is close to 0.48. Such value (p = 1 to 6) decrease whilst the fiber volume increases.
is the critical volume fraction wherein all the Poisson ratios In contrast, C 12 ; C 13 and C 23 are increasing as V2 does.

(a) 1700
μ23- UB
1550 μ23-AHM
μ23- LB
1400
Out-of-plane shear modulus μ23 (in MPa)

1250

1100

950

800

650

500

350

200

50
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7
Fiber volume fraction

(b) 500
UB
AHM
LB
450
Young’s modulus E3 (in MPa)

400

350

300

250

200
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7

Fiber volume fraction

Fig. 12. Effective out-of-plane (a) shear modulus and (b) Young’s modulus, with their upper (UB) and lower (LB) bounds. The composite is an auxetic matrix
reinforced with conventional fibers when b/a = 1.
18 G.G. Nava-Gómez et al. / Mechanics of Materials 48 (2012) 1–25

Furthermore, as is shown in Fig. 7(b), only C 12 reaches a
positive value when V2 is in the vicinity of the percolation
value, whereas C 13 and C 23 almost exhibit a linear
behaviour. Therefore, since C 12 ; C 13 , and C 13 are almost
always negative, all the effective Poisson ratios are
negative too, so it is expected that the composite exhibits
an auxetic behaviour in any direction. This situation is
illustrated in Fig. 9(b).
From the studies of Alderson et al. (2005), the predic-
tions of Kocer et al. (2009), Lim and Acharya (2011) and
Ramírez and Sabina (2012), it is expected that any fiber-
reinforced composite material may have an enhancement
in their Young moduli when the matrix is auxetic and the
fibers have a positive Poisson’s ratio. This is, the Young
moduli of the composite are bigger than the respective
Young moduli of their constituents. This is a stunning re-
sult which exceeds the predictions given by means of Voi-
gt’s average. Furthermore, according to Kocer et al. (2009),
when a binary laminate with isotropic constituents is con-
sidered, a significant enhancement on the stiffness can be

(a) 0
UB
-0.1 AHM
LB

-0.2

-0.3
Poisson’s ratio ν31

-0.4

-0.5

-0.6

-0.7

-0.8

-0.9

-1
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7
Fiber volume fraction

(b) 1700
G12
G13
1500 G23

1300
Property value (in MPa)

1100

900

700

500

300

100
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5

Fiber volume fraction

Fig. 13. (a) Effective Poisson’s ratio m31 with their upper (UB) and lower (LB) bounds. (b) Effective shear moduli G12 ; G13 and G23 in terms of the fiber volume
fraction V2. The composite is an auxetic matrix reinforced with conventional fibers and an aspect ratio of: (a) 1.0 and (b) 1.5. As it is shown in (b), all the
elastic moduli are positive.
 G.G. Nava-Gómez et al. / Mechanics of Materials 48 (2012) 1–25 19

attained if the auxetic phase has a Young’s modulus greater 120 MPa, respectively. In addition, another noteworthy as-
than or equal to the module of the non-auxetic phase. pect relies on the fact that the biggest Young’s modulus is
Therefore, we can expect this behavior to be predicted by always obtained along the fiber direction, E3 , when it is
our simulations. The physical mechanism which explains compared with the predictions of E1 and E2 for all the fiber
such behaviour in a binary fiber-reinforced composite is volume fractions. It is also clear from Fig. 10(b) that E3
documented in Alderson et al. (2005). takes a maximum value close to 450 MPa when
As is shown in Fig. 10(b), our predictions indicate that V2  0.425. This is a figure which is about 1.32 and 3.75
all Young’s moduli are bigger than 340 MPa for practically times higher than Young’s modulus of the matrix and the
all the fiber volume fractions if the matrix is auxetic. fiber, respectively.
Therefore, we observe here a dramatic enhancement on Hence, due to the excellent agreement between both
the composite material stiffness since Young’s modulus methodologies when one of the constituents is auxetic, we
of the auxetic and non-auxetic constituents are 340 and can establish the validity of the model herein presented for

(a) 1
1-ν12ν21
1-ν13ν31
0.9
1-ν23ν32

0.8

0.7
Lempriere’s condition value

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
Fiber volume fraction

(b) 0.5
Δ
0.45

0.4

0.35
Lempriere’s condition value

0.3

0.25

0.2

0.15

0.1

0.05

0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5

Fiber volume fraction

Fig. 14. Lempriere’s constraints in terms of the fiber volume fraction. (a) Plots for the three conditions (64b). (b) Condition (64c) which for simplicity is
labeled as D. The composite is an auxetic matrix reinforced with conventional fibers when b/a = 1.5.
20 G.G. Nava-Gómez et al. / Mechanics of Materials 48 (2012) 1–25

auxetic and conventional constituents. For a fiber-reinforced modulus, respectively. It is important to clarify that the
composite with an auxetic matrix, we are proposing a way expressions (63i) and (63j) for the bound (62e) are ob-
to make an orthotropic composite whose effective Young’s tained with the assumptions of well-ordered materials
moduli may have a higher values than their constituents. which means that: m1 < m2, jm1j > jm2j and 1=K H H
2 > 1=K 1 .
The Fig. 11(a) and (b), Fig. 12(a) and (b) and Fig. 13(a)
4.1.2. Variational bounds
illustrate that the AHM predictions are bounded when b/
In addition to the previous validations it becomes nec-
a = 1. Hence, the predictions for the transversely isotropic
essary to explicitly show that both predictions, AHM and
case herein presented are physically admissible.
FEM, are bounded by the well-known bounds of Hashin
(1965) and Hill (1964). Typically, the bounds have been
used as energetically admissible limits in the elastic stiff- 4.1.3. Lempriere’s thermodynamic constraints
nesses. Because our previous validations show no signifi- The thermodynamic constraints on the elastic constants
cant difference among the AHM and FEM results, it is for an orthotropic material were reported first by Lempri-
reasonable to do this validation over the AHM predictions ere (1968). Formally, these conditions ensures that the
only. elastic matrices are positive-definite. They are:
Hence, a complete description of these bounds is pro- E1 ; E2 ; E3 ; G12 ; G13 ; G23 > 0; ð64aÞ
vided herein for the transversely isotropic case. This is, a
ð1  m12 m21 Þ; ð1  m13 m31 Þ; ð1  m23 m32 Þ > 0; ð64bÞ
RVA with an unit aspect ratio whose matrix is auxetic
and it is reinforced with conventional fibers. 1  m12 m21  m13 m31  m23 m32  2m12 m23 m31 > 0; ð64cÞ
The five variational bounds for transversely isotropic
Hence, we plot such conditions in the Fig. 13(b), Fig. 14(a)
composites with isotropic constituents can be written as
and (b) for the rectangular-symmetry RVA with an aspect
(Christensen, 1979):
ratio of 1.5. Also, we must recall that in the Fig. 10(b) we
ðÞ ðþÞ already shown that E1, E2 and E3 are always positive.
K 12 6 K H 6 K 12 ; ð62aÞ
ðÞ ðþÞ Henceforth, as it is illustrated, all the Lempriere’s condi-
l l
12 6 12 6 12 ; l ð62bÞ
tions are met. Thus, all the matrices which are related to
ðÞ ðþÞ
l l
23 6 23 6 23 ; l ð62cÞ the effective elastic tensors C ijpq and Sijpq are positive-defi-
ðÞ ðþÞ
E3 6 E3 6 E3 ; ð62dÞ nite for this case.
ðÞ ðþÞ
m m
31 6 31 6 31 ; m ð62eÞ
4.2. Auxeticity windows for orthotropic fiber-reinforced
where composites

ðÞ V1 Since any conventional composite with auxetic inclu-

K 12 ¼ K H
2 þ ; ð63aÞ
1=ðK H H H
1  K 2 Þ þ V 2 =ðK 2 þ l2 Þ sions may have a negative Poisson’s ratio, it is important
ðþÞ V2 to know the critical amount of auxetic inclusions, /c, which
K 12 ¼ K H
1 þ ; ð63bÞ
1=ðK H H H
2  K 1 Þ þ V 1 =ðK 1 þ l1 Þ is required to obtain an auxetic composite. Thus, in order
V1 to systematically explore the regions wherein a composite
lðÞ
12 ¼ l2 þ ; ð63cÞ
is auxetic, Wei and Edwards (1998) proposed the so-called
1=ðl1  l2 Þ þ V 2 ðK H H
2 þ 2l2 Þ=2l2 ðK 2 þ l2 Þ
V2 auxeticity windows. For a binary isotropic composite
lðþÞ
12 ¼ l1 þ ; ð63dÞ material these windows are defined in terms of two theo-
1=ðl2  l1 Þ þ V 1 ðK H H
1 þ 2l1 Þ=2l1 ðK 1 þ l1 Þ
retical intervals. One interval for the volume fraction of the
V1
lðÞ
23 ¼ l2 þ ; ð63eÞ auxetic inclusion, (/c, 1), and another related to Young’s
1=ðl1  l2 Þ þ V 2 =2l2
moduli ratio, d = Einclusion/Ematrix, namely, (d0, dc).
V2
lðþÞ
23 ¼ l1 þ ; ð63fÞ We extend this concept here for an orthotropic binary
1=ðl2  l1 Þ þ V 1 =2l1
fiber-reinforced composite material with isotropic constit-
ðÞ 2 ðÞ
E3 ¼ EV þ 4ðm1  m2 Þ q ; ð63gÞ uents. By taking into consideration that any orthotropic
ðþÞ 2 ðþÞ material is fully characterized by nine independent elastic
E3 ¼ EV þ 4ðm1  m2 Þ q ; ð63hÞ
! constants, we only need to ask if three of their Poisson’s ra-
1 1
mðÞ
31 ¼ mV þ ðm1  m2 Þ  qðþÞ ; ð63iÞ tios are negative. This can be deduced from Poisson’s ratios
KH
2 KH
1 symmetry relations for orthotropic materials.
!
1 1 Therefore, we focus our predictions for the Poisson ra-
mðþÞ
31 ¼ mV þ ðm1  m2 Þ  qðÞ ; ð63jÞ
tios m12 ; m13 and m23 whose critical volume fractions are
KH
2 KH
1
V 1V 2 /c(m12), /c(m13) and /c(m23), respectively. Then, by taking
qðÞ ¼ ; ð63kÞ into consideration the spirit of the Wei and Edwards defi-
V 1 =K H H
2 þ V 2 =K 1 þ 1=l2
nition, the volume fractions are defined as follows:
V 1V 2
qðþÞ ¼ ; ð63lÞ
V 1 =K H H
2 þ V 2 =K 1 þ 1=l1
V2
/¼ ; ð65aÞ
EV ¼ V 1 E1 þ V 2 E2 ; ð63mÞ Vp
mV ¼ m1 V 1 þ m2 V 2 ; ð63nÞ Vc
/c ¼ ; ð65bÞ
w
Vp
wherein K = K + l/3 and K ¼ ðC 11 þ C 12 Þ=2 are the plane
H

strain bulk modulus and the effective plane strain bulk wherein Vc is the critical fiber volume fraction.
 G.G. Nava-Gómez et al. / Mechanics of Materials 48 (2012) 1–25 21

Table 3
Critical values of / obtained by means of the AHM in a fiber-reinforced composite material with a square-symmetry and isotropic constituents. The percolation
volume fraction is Vp = p/4. The critical fiber volume fraction can be obtained from (65b). The 0(+) value indicates 0 < /c 6 1/10000.

m2 d /c
m1 = 0.5 m1 = 0.25 m1 = 0
/c(m12) /c(m13) /c(m12) /c(m13) /c(m12) /c(m13)

 12 0.1 0.9376 – 0.7627 0.9081 0.2521 0(+)

1 0.9804 0.8279 0.4777 0.6291 0.0003 0(+)
10 – 0.6604 0.3369 0.8139 0.3438 0(+)
1 0.1 0.7032 0.4295 0.4899 0.1858 0.0891 0(+)
1 0.7213 0.4241 0.5207 0.1824 0.1048 0(+)
10 0.8265 0.4236 0.6924 0.1821 0.2172 0(+)

(a) 1

AUXETIC ZONE
0.8

0.6
φ

0.4

NON-AUXETIC ZONE

0.2

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

(b) 1

0.8
AUXETIC ZONE

0.6
φ

0.4

NON-AUXETIC ZONE
0.2

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
δ

Fig. 15. Auxeticity windows of two binary composite materials with isotropic constituents, m1 = 0.5 and m2 = 1. For any state (d, /) located above each
curve, the composite will have an auxetic behaviour. (a) Composite material of Wei and Edwards (1998) (Auxetic spheres). (b) Fiber-reinforced composite
with auxetic fibers and b/a = 1.
22 G.G. Nava-Gómez et al. / Mechanics of Materials 48 (2012) 1–25

For the square-symmetry case the Table 3 is built in
accordance to some of the combinations for m1, m2 and d
which are reported in Wei and Edwards (1998). In this
Table we show the critical volumes /c(m12) and /c(m13) since
the composite material is transversely isotropic. It is also
important to recall here that subindexes 1 and 2 are related
to the matrix and the fibrous phase, respectively.
Hence, by inspecting Table 3, it is clear that m13 has better
opportunities than m12 to become negative for low fiber vol-
ume fractions, no matter the d-value. This is due to the trans-
verse isotropy of the composite and it is more evident when
m2 = 1. An exception to the previous statement is found in
the combinations: m1 = 0.25, m2 = 0.5 and m1 = 0.50, m2 = 0.5.
Another pattern is found when m2 = 1: first, /c(m13) is
almost constant for a given m1. This fact represents a qua-
si-independence of d. Second, as m1 increases, so /c(m13)
does. This diminishes the chances to obtain a negative
m13 whilst m1 increases. A similar situation occurs with
/c(m12) wherein an explicit dependence on d is observed.
Moreover, if m2 = 0.5 and m1 is greater than zero, we
observe a reciprocal behaviour among /c(m12) and /c(m13)
for the variations of d. That is, an increase of /c(m12) or

(a) 1
Sq.
b/a = 1.25
0.9 b/a = 1.50
b/a = 3.00

0.8

0.7

0.6

0.5
φ

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
δ

(b) 0.5 AHM Observations

Fit

0.4

0.3
φc

0.2

0.1

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Aspect Ratio

Fig. 16. (a) Auxeticity windows obtained for different rectangular cells when m1 = 0.5 and m2 = 1. For each aspect ratio b/a, the auxetic zone is located
above each curve whilst the non-auxetic zone is below the respective curve, as it was explained in Fig. 15. (b) Variation of /c with b/a when m1 = 0.5 and
m2 = 1. The curve indicate the fit proposed in (66) when 1 6 b/a 6 10.

1.4
1.2
1
0.8
Effective Poisson’s ratio 0.6
0.4
0.2
-0.2
-0.4
-0.6
-0.8
-1
-1.2
0 0.05
Fig. 17. Effective Poisson ratios m12 ; m13 and m23 against the fiber volume fraction V2 obtained in a RVA with isotropic constituents wherein b/a = 2, d = 2,
m1 = 0.5 and m2 = 1.
/c(m13) is associated with a decrease in /c(m13) or /c(m12),
respectively.
For the square-symmetry case we plot our predictions
for the combination m1 = 0.5 and m2 = 1 in Fig. 15(b)
whereas the results of Wei and Edwards (1998) are shown
in Fig. 15(a). It is important to mention that such plots
were built under the consideration that we have a unique
/c for each d. This can be obtained by taking into consider-
ation only those Poisson’s ratios which become negative
first when varying / for a given d.
For the rectangular cell, Fig. 16(a) exhibit the effect of
the aspect ratio when m1 = 0.5 and m2 = 1. As in the
square-symmetry RVA, the effective Poisson’s ratio m13
was almost ever the first to become negative and, as a con-
sequence, a quasi-independence of d is present whenever
d > 1.
Therefore, it is clear that there exists a relationship
among b/a and /c. This statement is true even in the cases
when d < 1, since the knees of the curves which are shown
in Fig. 16 (a) are vanishing as the aspect ratio increases. As
an illustration, we performed a curve-fitting using as target
the three-parameter function:
c1
/c ¼
bc3 ;
c2 þ
a
which is plotted in Fig. 16(b). In order to build this fit we
collected our simulation results for d 2 [0.10, 20] and
b/a 2 [1, 10]. The computed constants c1 to c3 are: c1 =
0.0716294 ± 0.01500, c2 = 0.862255 ± 0.1483 and c3 =
0.831471 ± 0.03533, respectively.
Finally, during our simulations we observed that, in cer-
tain cases, the effective Poisson’s ratios were outside of the
thermodynamical limits for an isotropic material. As an
example, we plot in Fig. 17 a case wherein all the effective
Poisson ratios are outside the interval (1, 1/2) when V2 is
G.G. Nava-Gómez et al. / Mechanics of Materials 48 (2012) 1–25 23
ν12
ν13
ν23
0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35
Fiber volume fraction V2
above of 0.32. Therein, m13 has lower values than 1,
whereas m12 and m23 possess higher values than 0.5. All
these results are inside of the thermodynamical limits for
an elastic orthotropic material (Lempriere, 1968).
This kind of behaviour may be present in an anisotropic
auxetic material. Therefore, the herein presented model is
able to predict it. However, for the sake of caution, we
must ask: can a composite be made with Poisson ratios
greater than 0.5 from a rubber matrix (m = 0.5) reinforced
by highly-auxetic fibers (m = 1)?
In our opinion, the correctness of the analytical predic-
tions herein presented confirms such possibility. Therefore,
we must wait for an experimental confirmation.
5. Conclusions
Here we have presented an analytical derivation to cal-
culate the nine effective elastic coefficients which are pres-
ent in an orthotropic, binary and fiber-reinforced composite
material with transversely isotropic constituents when the
spacing among the fibers in the transversal directions is
describing a regular rectangular pattern.
Such derivation is herein obtained by two different
ð66Þ
methodologies. One of them is an analytical solution which
was calculated by means of the asymptotic homogeniza-
tion method and the Weierstrass doubly-periodic func-
tions, whereas the other derivation was obtained by
means of periodic boundary conditions on a finite element
model with ANSYS 10.0.
During the analytical solution herein presented we also
found an useful relationship to evaluate the effective prop-
erty C 33 in terms of the effective properties C 13 ; C 23 and the
elastic properties of their constituents. This relationship re-
duces the number of local problems to be solved, from six to
five, for an orthotropic and binary composite material.
24 G.G. Nava-Gómez et al. / Mechanics of Materials 48 (2012) 1–25
For all the herein studied fiber–matrix combinations,
both methodologies are in excellent agreement. The over-
all properties display explicit dependence on (i) the con-
stituents properties, (ii) the volume fraction or radius of
inclusion and (iii) the array periodicity. They are finally ob-
tained by solving a normal infinite symmetric linear sys-
tem of algebraic equations by truncation to a relatively
small order term. This allows a fast solution and low com-
putation cost. FEM is a useful tool for the result validation,
but the computation cost is higher.
We developed a model for a composite with one auxetic
phase wherein all of their Young’s moduli are stiffer than
those regarded to their constituents. This result was con-
firmed by both methodologies when we analyzed the case
of an auxetic matrix reinforced by conventional (non-aux-
etic) fibers.
In addition, it is reported that the results herein pre-
sented met the variational bounds for the transversely iso-
tropic case and Lempriere’s thermodynamic constraints for
an elastic orthotropic material when an auxetic matrix
reinforced by conventional fibers is considered.
The ability of our model to predict the auxeticity win-
dows of Wei and Edwards (1998) for an orthotropic binary
fiber-reinforced composite with auxetic fibers and a non-
auxetic matrix is also presented. During our simulations,
it is found that the effective Poisson ratio m13 becomes neg-
ative easier than m12 and m23 . It is also found that due to the
orthotropic character of the composites herein studied, the
fiber volume fraction required to reach an auxetic behav-
iour is almost independent of Young’s moduli ratio Efiber/
Ematrix. In addition, we proved that the rectangular aspect
ratio b/a dramatically enhances the auxetic behaviour of
this kind of composites.
Finally, we presented an example of an orthotropic com-
posite which may present their six Poisson ratios outside
the isotropic thermodynamical limits (1, 1/2). The ability
to produce this material remains as a practical question
which needs an experimental verification.
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful for the comments raised by the
referees which help to improve the manuscript. This work
was sponsored by Conacyt project number 100559 and
129658. One of the authors (GGNG) would like to thank
the scholarship granted by Conacyt. The authors also thank
all the institutional support provided by the IIMAS, UACJ,
CIMAV and the Havana University. A special mention is de-
served to Dr. Harald Berger (Magdeburg University) for his
advise. Thanks are given to Ana Pérez Arteaga and Ramiro
Chávez Tovar for their computational support.
References
Alderson, K.L., Coenen, V.L., 2008. The low velocity impact response of
auxetic carbon fibre laminates. Physica Status Solidi B 245, 489–496.
Alderson, K.L., Simkins, V.R., Coenen, V.L., Davies, P.J., Alderson, A., Evans,
K.E., 2005. How to make auxetic fibre reinforced composites. Physica
Status Solidi B 242, 509–518.
Ballato, A., 2010. Poisson’s ratios of auxetic and other technological
materials. IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and
Frequency Control 57, 7–15.
Bensoussan, A., Lions, J.L., Papanicolau, G., 1978. Asymptotic Analysis for
Periodic Structures. North-Holland, Amsterdam.
Berger, H., Kari, S., Gabbert, U., Rodríguez-Ramos, R., Bravo-Castillero, J.,
Guinovart-Díaz, R., 2005. An analytical and numerical approach for
calculating effective material coefficients of piezoelectric fiber
composites. International Journal of Solids and Structures 45, 5692–
5714.
Camacho-Montes, H., Rodríguez-Ramos, R., Bravo-Castillero, J., Guinovart-
Díaz, R., Sabina, F.J., 2006. Effective coefficients for two phase
magneto-electroelastic fibrous composite with square symmetry
cell in-plane mechanical displacement and out-of-plane electric and
magnetic field case. Integrated Ferroelectrics 83, 49–65.
Chirima, G., Ravirala, N., Rawal, A., Simkins, V.R., Alderson, A., Alderson, K.,
2008. The effect of processing parameters on the fabrication of
auxetic extruded polypropylene films. Physica Status Solidi B 245,
2383–2390.
Chirima, G.T., Zied, K.M., Ravirala, N., Alderson, K.L., Alderson, A., 2009.
Numerical and analytical modelling of multi-layer adhesive-film
interface systems. Physica Status Solidi b 246, 2072–2082.
Christensen, R., 1979. Mechanics of Composite Materials. John Wiley &
Sons, New York.
Dean, G.D., Turner, P., 1973. The elastic properties of carbon fibers and
their composites. Composites 4, 174–180.
Evans, K.E., Nkansah, M.A., Hutchinson, I.J., Rogers, S.C., 1991. Molecular
network design. Nature 353, 124.
Fuentes, L.E., Fuentes, M.E., 2008. The Relation Structure-Properties in
Crystals and Polycrystals. Reverté, Spain (in Spanish).
Grigolyuk, E.I., Filshtinskii, L.A., 1970. Perforated Plates and Shells. Nauka,
Moscow (in Russian).
Grima, J.N., Ellul, B., Attard, D., Gatt, R., Attard, M., 2010. Composites with
needle-like inclusions exhibiting negative thermal expansion: a
preliminary investigation. Composites Science and Technology 70,
2248–2252.
Guinovart-Díaz, R., Bravo-Castillero, J., Rodríguez-Ramos, R., Sabina, F.J.,
2001. Closed-form expressions for the effective coefficients of fibre-
reinforced composite with transversely isotropic constituents. I:
Elastic and hexagonal symmetry. Journal of the Mechanics and
Physics of Solids 49, 1445–1462.
Guinovart-Díaz, R., López-Realpozo, J.C., Rodríguez-Ramos, R., Bravo-
Castillero, J., Ramírez, M., Camacho-Montes, H., Sabina, F.J., 2011.
Influence of parallelogram cell in the axial behaviour of fibrous
composite. International Journal of Engineering Science 49, 75–84.
Hashin, Z., 1965. On elastic behavior of fibre reinforced materials of
arbitrary transverse phase geometry. Journal of the Mechanics and
Physics of Solids 13, 119–134.
Hill, R., 1964. Theory of mechanical properties of fibre-strengthened
materials: I. elastic behaviour.. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics
of Solids 12, 199–212.
Kalamkarov, A.L., Kopalkov, A.G., 1997. Analysis Design and Optimization
of Composite Structures. Wiley, Chichester, UK.
Kalamkarov, A.L., Georgiades, A.V., Rokkam, S.K., Veedu, V.P., Ghasemi-
Nejhad, M.N., 2006. Analytical and numerical techniques to predict
carbon nanotubes properties. International Journal of Solids and
Structures 43, 6832–6854.
Kocer, C., McKenzie, D.R., Bilek, M.M., 2009. Elastic properties of a
material composed of alternated layers of negative and positive
poisson’s ratio. Materials Science and Engineering: A 505, 111–115.
Lakes, R., 1987. Foam structures with a negative Poisson’s ratio. Science
235, 1038–1040.
Lee, T., Lakes, R.S., 1997. Anisotropic polyurethane foam with poisson’s
ratio greater than 1. Journal of Materials Science 32, 2397–2401.
Lempriere, B.M., 1968. Poisson’s ratio in orthotropic materials. AIAA
Journal 6 (11), 2226–2227.
Levy, A., Papazian, J.M., 1990. Tensile properties of short fiber-reinforced
SiC/Al composites: Part II. Finite-element analysis. Metallurgical
Transactions A 21A, 411–420.
Lim, T.-C., 2009. Out-of-plane modulus of semi-auxetic laminates.
European Journal of Mechanics – A/Solids 28, 752–756.
Lim, T.-C., Acharya, U.R., 2011. Counterintuitive modulus from semi-
auxetic laminates. Physica Status Solidi B 248, 60–65.
López-López, E., Sabina, F.J., Bravo-Castillero, J., Guinovart-Díaz, R.,
Rodríguez-Ramos, R., 2005. Overall electromechanical properties of
a binary composite with 622 symmetry constituents. Antiplane shear
piezoelectric state. International Journal of Solids and Structures 42,
5765–5777.
Love, A.E.H., 1944. A Treatise on the Mathematical Theory of Elasticity,
fourth ed. Dover, New York.
McPhedran, R.C., McKenzie, D.R., 1980. Electrostatic and optical
resonances of arrays of cylinders. Applied Physics 23, 223–235.
 G.G. Nava-Gómez et al. / Mechanics of Materials 48 (2012) 1–25
Muskhelishvili, N.I., 1953. Some Basic Problems of the Mathematical
Theory of Elasticity. P. Noordhoff Ltd., Groningen, Holland.
Nava-Gómez, G.G., Fuentes, L., Sabina, F.J., Camacho-Montes, H.,
Rodríguez-Ramos, R., 2010. On the prediction of anisotropy in a
binary composite due to the spacing among their fibers. Mechanics
Research Communications 37, 241–245.
Nowick, A.S., 2005. Crystal Properties Via Group Theory. Cambridge Univ.
Press.
Pobedrya, B.E., 1984. Mechanics of Composite Materials. Moscow State
University Press, Moscow (in Russian).
Ramírez, M., Sabina, F.J., 2012. Correction to ‘‘out-of-plane modulus of
semi-auxetic laminates’’ by t.-c. lim. Eur. J. Mech. A/Sol. 28 (2009)
752–756. European Journal of Mechanics – A/Solids 32, 59–61.
Rodríguez-Ramos, R., Sabina, F.J., Guinovart-Díaz, R., Bravo-Castillero, J.,
2001. Closed-form expressions for the effective coefficients of a
fibre reinforced composite with transversely isotropic constituents.
i: Elastic and square symmetry. Mechanics of Materials 33, 223–
235.
25
Sabina, F.J., Rodríguez-Ramos, R., Bravo-Castillero, J., Guinovart-Díaz, R.,
2001. Closed-form expressions for the effective coefficients of a fibre-
reinforced composite with transversely isotropic constituents. II:
Piezoelectric and hexagonal symmetry. Journal of the Mechanics and
Physics of Solids 49, 1463–1479.
Sánchez-Palencia, E., 1980. Non Homogeneous Media and Vibration
Theory. Lecture Notes in Physics, vol. 127. Springer, Berlin.
Sokolnikoff, I.S., 1956. Mathematical Theory of Elasticity. McGraw-Hill
Co., York, PA.
Suquet, P., 1987. Elements of homogenization for inelastic solids
mechanics. In: Sánchez-Palencia, E., Zaoini, A. (Eds.),
Homogenization Techniques for Composite Media. Springer, Berlin.
Walker, P.L., 1996. Elliptic Functions. A Constructive Approach. John
Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Chichester-New York.
Wei, G., Edwards, S.F., 1998. Auxecity windows for composites. Physica A
278, 5–10.
Weil, A., 1999. Elliptic Functions According to Eisenstein and Kronecker.
Classics in Mathematics. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.