A New Numerical-Homogenization Method to Predict the Effective Permittivity of Composite Materials

The effective permittivity of composite materials depends highly on the geometry, the arrangement, and the permittivity of each component. This research proposes a new numerical method that takes into account those dependencies through assemblies of virtual capacitors (electrical circuit). Then, the effective permittivity is calculated from the equivalent capacity of the suggested circuits. The new presented method delimits the effective permittivity of heterogeneous materials through two obtained different summation expressions. This new method was applied to some inclusions to investigate its validity by comparing its results to the existing models and the results of the finite element method. The new results are shown in good agreement with the literature. Moreover, the presented model takes less time in simulation to estimate the effective permittivity compared to the finite element method. The new model can be applied to all kinds of composite materials including the ones that involve multiple phases and complex geometries.