Variational method of determining effective moduli of polycrystals with tetragonal symmetry

Variational principles have been applied to aggregates of randomly oriented pure‐phase polycrystals having tetragonal symmetry. The bounds of the effective elastic moduli obtained in this way show a substantial improvement over the bounds obtained by means of the Voigt and Reuss assumptions. The Hill average is found to be a good approximation in most cases when compared to the bounds found from the variational method. The new bounds reduce in their limits to the Voigt and Reuss values.