Abstract

In the present paper we have put together some results of a cluster method that allows the calculation of linear and also non-linear effective elastic constants of polycrystalline materials within an iterative self-consistent scheme. The conceptual idea consists in simulating the real material by a suitably chosen cluster of single grains. One can then determine the elastic properties of the material under study by examining the elastic behavior of the cluster. The method is capable of resolving the effect of the grain shape, that is determined by the coordination number of the grains on the effective constants.