The energy of inclusions in linear media exact shape-independent relations (Q1201450)

In this work the authors discussed the energy of an inclusion in a medium with linear response properties. These cases are encountered when a stress-free strain is prescribed in a domain of an elastic medium, or, when a magnet is introduced into a paramagnetic medium. They first treated the elastic inclusions and found that when an eigenstrain \(\varepsilon^ x_{ij}\) is dictated within \(D\), the energy cannot exceed \(W_ 0={1\over 2} \int_ D \varepsilon^ x_{ij} C_{ijkl} \varepsilon^ x_{kl} dV\), \(C_{ijkl}\) being the elastic tensor in the medium. The elastic energy for an inclusion with a constant eigenstrain \(\varepsilon^ 0_{ij}\), in a homogeneous medium, is described by an energy \(W={1\over 2} \varepsilon^ 0_{ij} I_{ijkl} \varepsilon^ 0_{kl}\). The components of \(I\) which depend on the geometry of the inclusion, satisfy a linear, geometry independent relation of the form \(\beta_{ijkl} I_{ijkl}=3V\), where \(\beta\) is the inverse of the elastic tensor, and \(V\) is the volume of the inclusion. For a certain class of media, which include isotropic ones, a second relation is obeyed: \(\beta_{ijkl}: I_{ijkl}=V(5+3\nu^ 2)/[2(1-\nu^ 2)]\), \(\nu\) is the Poisson's ratio. As a special case, they found that the components of the Eshelby tensor obey a new linear relation of the form \(S_{ijij}=3\). They further treated the inclusions in a medium that responds linearly to many coupled scalar potentials, as in the magnetoelectric or thermoelectric effects. They also found a bound on the energy of the form \(W_ 0=(1/2)\int_ D p^{k\alpha} L^{- 1}_{km\alpha\beta} p^{m\beta} dV\), where \(L\) is response matrix of the medium and \(p^{k\alpha}\) is the \(\alpha\)-space component of the \(k\)-type external polarization field in the inclusion. When the polarization fields are constant, \(W\) is described in terms of an energy tensor \(I_{km\alpha\beta}\). They found that its components satisfy \(n(n+1)/2\) geometry independent relations \(L^{km\alpha\beta} I_{mn\alpha\beta}=V\delta_{kn}\). Similar bounds and costraints on the energy tensor can be found for inclusions in a medium that responds linearly to the most general phenomenon including coupled fields of different tensorial ranks, such as a piezoelectric or piezomagneo- electric medium. This work is quite good and well written, and applications in composite materials may be found.