A virtual frame work for predication of effect of voids on transverse elasticity of a unidirectionally reinforced composite

This paper introduces a powerful computational technique to study micro-mechanics of composites, particularly, it examines effect of air voids in evaluation of the effective transverse elasticity properties of a unidirectionally reinforced composite. A computational Representative Area Element (RAE) simulation of patterned fibre and void arrangement is used to derive the effective transverse elasticity properties of a transversely isotropic composite. The computational estimates for the elastic constants are found to be in reasonable agreement with typical theoretical estimates for multiphase materials.