Particulate reinforced composite materials, particularly metal-matrix based alloys, represent a group of materials widely used across various industrial and engineering sectors due to their unique advantages, such as isotropic properties and ease of manufacturing. The effective properties of particulate composites are primarily determined by the properties and volume fractions of the constituent phases. Effective properties refer to the macroscopic properties of composites resulting from the interaction of their phases. Characterizing these effective properties is a crucial step in designing high-performance particulate composites. However, existing methods face fundamental limitations, especially in the nonlinear characterization regime. In this thesis, the recently developed microstructure-free finite element modeling (MF-FEM) approach is extended to characterize the linear properties of three-phase particulate composites and the nonlinear properties of two-phase particulate composites. The main advantages of MF-FEM include: cost-effectiveness compared to experimental methods; greater reliability than analytical models; and circumventing the complexity of modeling intricate microstructures required in traditional finite element methods. MF-FEM predictions of effective properties closely align with experimental results, particularly in cases where phase materials exhibit significantly mismatched properties. This study demonstrates that MF-FEM is a reliable and cost-effective tool for designing particulate composites.