Effective mechanical properties of EM composite conductors: an analytical and finite element modeling approach

An analytical model and numerical approach to predict the effective mechanical properties of a composite conductor consisting of metallic core and insulation layers are presented in this paper. The analytical model was developed based on a two-step homogenizations and mechanics analysis for composite unit cell. The Step 1 homogenization derives the effective properties of the out-wrapped composite insulation layers. The Step 2 homogenization further smears the metallic core and the effective composite insulation layers to develop homogenized mechanical properties for composite conductor according to appropriate homogenization sequences. The procedure of using numerical approach and finite element method to determine the unit cell effective constants were also described and the results of the FEA prediction were presented. The analytical predictions were compared well to the numerical results for the nine material constants that characterize the effective mechanical properties of the composite conductor. 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.