Numerical Study of the Influence of Residual Thermal Stresses on the Fracture of Metal Matrix Composites

Abstract

A numerical study of the mechanical behavior of the «aluminum-boron carbide» composite material under different thermomechanical loading is performed. The complex structure of the composites is explicitly taken into account in the calculations. Isotropic elastoplastic and elastic-brittle constitutive models are used to describe the mechanical response of the aluminum matrix and ceramic particles, respectively. Huber type fracture criterion taking into account the local stress state: bulk tension, or compression, is chosen to study the origination and propagation of cracks in ceramic particles. The composite material microvolume with a single boron carbide particle embedded into the aluminum matrix is considered. The influence of the residual thermal stresses arising during cooling of the composite material from temperature close to the temperature of recrystallization of aluminum to the room temperature on the ceramic particle fracture is investigated. Dynamic boundary value problems are solved numerically by the finite element method in the ABAQUS / Explicit software package.