Anisotropic electrical conductivity in heterogeneous solids with cylindrical conducting inclusions

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Abstract
The electrical conductivity of undirectional short-graphite-fiber reinforced polymers is studied as a function of fiber content. An insulator-to-conductor transition is evidenced. In its neighborhood the electrical conductivity is anisotropic, the direction of highest conductivity being parallel to the fiber axis of alignment. It is found that the anisotropic ratio is finite at threshold and is related to the fiber aspect ratio. Its decay and the critical behaviors of the parallel and perpendicular conductivities as the fiber content is increased are interpreted in the framework of anisotropic percolation theory.