  In conventional approaches to the homogenization of random particulate
composites, both the distribution and size of the component phase particles are
often inadequately taken into account. Commonly, the spatial distributions are
characterized by volume fraction alone, while the electromagnetic response of
each component particle is represented as a vanishingly small depolarization
volume. The strong-permittivity-fluctuation theory (SPFT) provides an
alternative approach to homogenization wherein a comprehensive description of
distributional statistics of the component phases is accommodated. The
bilocally-approximated SPFT is presented here for the anisotropic homogenized
composite which arises from component phases comprising ellipsoidal particles.
The distribution of the component phases is characterized by a two-point
correlation function and its associated correlation length. Each component
phase particle is represented as an ellipsoidal depolarization region of
nonzero volume. The effects of depolarization volume and correlation length are
investigated through considering representative numerical examples. It is
demonstrated that both the spatial extent of the component phase particles and
their spatial distributions are important factors in estimating coherent
scattering losses of the macroscopic field.
