Abstract
A novel modeling method was proposed to provide an improved representation of the actual microstructure of TiB/Ti-6Al-4V discontinuously-reinforced titanium matrix composite (DRTMC). Based on the Thiessen polygon structure, the representative volume element (RVE) containing the complex microstructures of the DRTMC was first generated. Thereafter, by using multiple user-defined subroutines in the commercial finite element software ABAQUS, the application of asymmetric mesh periodic boundary conditions on the RVE was realized, and the equivalent elastic modulus of the DRTMC was determined according to the homogenization method. Through error analyses on the experimental and calculated results regarding the equivalent elastic parameters of the DRTMC, the rationality of generating the DRTMC finite element model by using the present method was validated. Finally, simulations based on four types of network-like models revealed that the present simplifications to the particle shape of the reinforcement phase had less of an influence on the overall composite strength. Moreover, the present study demonstrates that the DRTMC enhancement is mainly attributed to the matrix strengthening, rather than the load-transferring mechanism. The strengthening influences of the distribution forms of the reinforcement phases, including their distribution density and orientation, were studied further. It was found that both the higher distribution density and limited distribution orientation of the particles would increase the probability of overlapping and merging between particles, and; therefore, higher strength could be yielded when the volume fraction of the reinforcement phase reached a certain threshold. Owing to the versatility of the developed methods and programs, this work can provide a useful reference for the characterization of the mechanical properties of other composites types.
Highlights
With the development of the aerospace industry, the requirements for the adopted materials have become more focused on lightweight, but high strength, ductility, and toughness
Because the network-like representative volume element (RVE) model illustrated in Figure 7 is too complex, it is not easy to reveal the differences in material properties caused by the reinforcement phase distribution
(1) The present developed modeling method using the Thiessen polygon can realistically represent the network-like microstructure feature of the discontinuously-reinforced titanium matrix composite (DRTMC)
Summary
With the development of the aerospace industry, the requirements for the adopted materials have become more focused on lightweight, but high strength, ductility, and toughness. Simulated the mechanical response of B4 C hybrid-enhanced discontinuously-reinforced titanium matrix composites (DRTMCs) based on a yield strength model, by accounting for strengthening from the reinforcement phase, matrix grain refinement, and solid solution simultaneously. Their results indicated that the increase in the composite yield strength is mainly owing to grain refinement and solid solution strengthening. The simulation results of simplified network-like distributed models, accounting for a micro-mechanism material constitutive relationship are investigated in comparison with the thethe influences of simplifying the the reinforcement phase and with the experimental experimentalresults.
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