Representative elementary volume

Summary

A representative elementary volume, also called a representative volume element, is a sample of a heterogeneous material. It is the smallest sample whose averaged response stands for the material as a whole. It must be large compared to the grains, fibres or pores. It must be small compared to the size of the body and to the scale on which the loads vary. Effective properties used in homogenization and in multiscale simulations are computed on such a volume. For a periodic microstructure, one period cell plays this role exactly.