Walker diffusion method for calculation of transport properties of composite materials

Abstract

The morphology of a multiphase microstructure greatly influences the macroscopic transport properties of the composite material. These properties are shown to be related to the diffusion coefficient of a random (nonbiased) walker. The proper diffusion rules are found by considering an isomorphic image of the microstructure in which distinct populations of walkers correspond to the phase domains, with the walker density of a population proportional to the transport coefficient of the corresponding domain. To demonstrate the method, it is applied to disordered two-phase percolating composites.