Abstract: This work is concerned with a composite whose phases exhibit spherical transverse isotropy. A spherulitic polymer can be suitably modeled as such a composite. The problem of a hollow sphere consisting of a material of spherical transverse isotropy and undergoing shear strain or stress is first solved. The generalized self-consistent scheme is then applied to estimating the effective shear modulus of the composite as the positive root of a quadratic equation.

Key words: Micromechanics, Composites, Shear modulus, Generalized self-consistent model...