The effect of fabrication defects on the mechanical behaviors of metal matrix composites

Abstract

Fabrication defects are generally inevitable in particle-reinforced metal matrix composites (PRMMCs), however studies on their influence on the mechanical behaviors of PRMMCs are still far from sufficient. This paper presents a comprehensive investigation on the effect of internal fabrication defects (mainly voids and interface defect) on the mechanical properties of PRMMCs. The single-particle FE model and multi-particle FE model were established to comprehensively investigate the effect of voids and interface defect on PRMMCs. Simulation results show that the mechanical properties of composites are greatly influenced by various characteristics of voids and interface. In general, the detrimental effect of voids declines when voids are distributed far away from the particle. Moreover, when voids are located along the loading direction, they lower the mechanical performance the most. Additionally, composites with the most elongated voids show the lowest mechanical performance. Apart from these, the mechanical behaviors of composites can also be greatly impaired by the high dispersion of interface strength. This paper provides a guidance towards the evaluation and prediction of the mechanical properties of PRMMCs with internal fabrication defects.