The effects of interfacial debonding on the elastoplastic response of unidirectional silicon carbide—titanium composites

Abstract

A three-dimensional micromechanics-based analytical model is presented to investigate the effects of initiation and propagation of interface damage on the elastoplastic behaviour of unidirectional SiC—Ti metal matrix composites (MMCs) subjected to off-axis loading. Temperature-dependent properties are considered for the matrix. Manufacturing process thermal residual stress (RS) is also included in the model. The selected representative volume element consists of r× c unit cells in which a quarter of the fibre is surrounded by matrix sub-cells. The constant compliance interface model is used to model interfacial debonding and the successive approximation method together with von Mises yield criterion is used to obtain elastoplastic behaviour. Dominance mode of damage including fibre fracture, interfacial debonding, and matrix yielding and ultimate tensile strength of the SiC—Ti MMC are predicted for various loading directions. The effects of thermal RS and fibre volume fraction on the stress—strain response of the SiC—Ti MMC are studied. Results revealed that for more realistic predictions, both interface damage and thermal RS effects should be considered in the analysis. The contribution of interfacial debonding and thermal RS in the overall behaviour of the material is also investigated. Comparison between results of the presented model shows very good agreement with the finite-element micromechanical analysis and experiment for various off-axis angles.