The effect of the reinforcement spatial distribution on the tensile deformation was
investigated in a sphere-reinforced ductile-matrix composite through the finite element
simulation of a representative volume element of the material. Composites with four different
random and isotropic particle spatial distributions were considered: a homogeneous one
and three heterogeneous ones, where the particles were clustered in spherical regions with
increasing local reinforcement volume fractions. The inhomogeneities in the particle spatial …