Abstract
Although the porosity in Al-SiC metal matrix composites (MMC) can be diminished; its existence is unavoidable. The purpose of this work is to study the effect of porosity on Young’s modulus of SiC reinforced aluminum matrix composites. Finite element analysis is performed based on the unit cell and the representative volume element approaches. The reliability of the models is validated by comparing the numerical predictions against several experimental data ranging in low- and high-volume fractions and good agreement is found. It is found that despite the stress transfer from the soft matrix to the reinforcement remains effective in the presence of pores, there is a drop in the stress gathering capability of the particles and thus, the resulting effective elastic modulus of composite decreases. The elastic property of the composite is more sensitive to pores away the reinforcement. It is confirmed, qualitatively, that the experimentally reported in the literature decrease in the elastic modulus is caused by the presence of pores.
Highlights
Particles embedded in a matrix are commonly encountered in metal matrixes since they arise during melt processing by non-controlled phase changes, mechanical interaction of the melt with its surroundings, or they are added intentionally as filler material
The numerical methodology was validated by comparing the numerical effective elastic modulus of the composites against experimental data published for the cemented carbides, which consist of WC
This study considers small and large granules, with reinforcement volume fraction ranging from 50–90% and the elastic modulus were determined by resonant ultrasound spectroscopy (RUS) and impulse excitation
Summary
Particles embedded in a matrix are commonly encountered in metal matrixes since they arise during melt processing by non-controlled phase changes, mechanical interaction of the melt with its surroundings, or they are added intentionally as filler material. Stiff and soft particle inclusions in a matrix have effects that could be considered adverse or beneficial in the physical and mechanical properties of the bulk matrix. The incorporation of ceramic stiffer particles—e.g., SiC, SiO2 , Al2 O3 , and WC—to matrixes such as aluminum alloys reinforce the bulk matrix and metal matrix composites (MMC) arise. Due to their high specific strength and Metals 2020, 10, 391; doi:10.3390/met10030391 www.mdpi.com/journal/metals. MMC exhibit isotropic material properties [2]
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