Review
Homogenisation: Averaging Processes in Periodic Media (Mathematical Problems in Mechanics of Composite Materials). By N. Bakhvalov and G. Panasenko. Translated by De Leites from the Russian. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht. ISBN 0-7923-0049-1. Price: £94.00.
This book is based on a course of lectures deli-Vered by these authors at the Faculty of Mathematics and Mechanics at the Faculty of Computing and Cybernetics at Moscow University and as such has a strong mathematical bias. This book is restricted to composite materials which have alternating volumes of materials having different properties. The initial success of such materials required a further study of the mathematics and materials involved. The authors believe that a strict mathematical treatment often provides a route to a better understanding of the process that takes place within composites under loading. The mathematical models produced have made it possible to predict the properties of the composite materials without manufacture and consequently it is possible to develop a composite with predeterminal or optimum properties. The authors agree that average properties obtained by testing are also essential.
The processes in composites are generally described by differential equations with varying coefficients and the book deals mainly with the application of standard asymptotic methods to investigate the solutions of these equations.
This book is intended for the theorist or mathematician working in the composite materials field.