A microstructure-based model is developed to study the effective anisotropic properties (magnetic, dielectric or thermal) of two-phase particle-filled composites. The Green's function technique and the effective field method are used to theoretically derive the homogenized (averaged) properties for a representative volume element containing isolated inclusion and infinite, chain-structured particles. Those results are compared with the finite element approximations conducted for the assumed representative volume element. In addition, the Maxwell-Garnett model is retrieved as a special case when particle interactions are not considered. We also give some information on the optimal design of the effective anisotropic properties taking into account the shape of magnetic particles.
Keywords: effective field method; homogenization; numerical analysis; optimal design; particulate-reinforced composite materials.