Abstract
An integrated experimental and numerical study is performed to investigate the deformation and fracture in aluminum matrix – carbide particle composites. Al-TiC and Al-B4C cylindrical specimens are fabricated by solid-state sintering during hot pressing and then subjected to compression and tension tests for investigating the fracture by electron microscopy. The method of step-by-step packing is adopted to generate 3D model microstructures of metal-matrix composite materials. The dynamic boundary-value problems are solved numerically by the finite-element method using ABAQUS/Explicit. Constitutive models describing the mechanical behavior of the matrix and particle materials, where isotropic strain hardening is included into consideration and a fracture criterion is used, are implemented in the FE calculations through a user-defined subroutine. The interrelated plastic strain localization in the aluminum matrix and crack origination and growth in ceramic particles are investigated under tension and compression of the composites. Debonding and in-particle cracking are found to agree well with the fracture patterns observed experimentally.
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