An efficient SPH methodology for modelling mechanical characteristics of particulate composites

Particulate composites are one of the widely used materials in producing numerous state-of-the-art components in biomedical,automobile,aerospace including defence technology.Variety of modelling techniques have been adopted in the past to model mechanical behaviour of particulate composites.Due to their favourable properties,particle-based methods provide a convenient platform to model failure or fracture of these composites.Smooth particle hydrodynamics(SPH)is one of such methods which demonstrate excellent potential for modelling failure or fracture of particulate composites in a Lagrangian setting.One of the major challenges in using SPH method for modelling composite materials depends on accurate and efficient way to treat interface and boundary conditions.In this paper,a masterslave method based multi-freedom constraints is proposed to impose essential boundary conditions and interfacial displacement constraints in modelling mechanical behaviour of composite materials using SPH method.The proposed methodology enforces the above constraints more accurately and requires only smaller condition number for system stiffness matrix than the procedures based on typical penalty function approach.A minimum cut-off value-based error criteria is employed to improve the computational efficiency of the proposed methodology.In addition,the proposed method is further enhanced by adopting a modified numerical interpolation scheme along the boundary to increase the accuracy and computational efficiency.The numerical examples demonstrate that the proposed master-slave approach yields better accuracy in enforcing displacement constraints and requires approximately the same computational time as that of penalty method.

Hardness, Wear Resistance and Fracture Toughness of Cast Hiduminium/Corundum Particulate Composites

This paper reports some results obtained in an investigation to see how increasing the corundum dispersoid content from 0% to 7% in a matrix of as-cast and wrought hiduminium alloy affects the hardness. wear resistance and fracture toughness of the composite. The results show that as the corundum content is increased, the hardness and the wear resistance increase remarkably,whereas the fracture toughness drops significantly. It was found that Just a minute amount of corundum is sufficient to cause a fairly large change in these mechanical properties. The hardness of the material is also affected signifIcantly by the aging time. Moreover, if other factors are kept constant, hot extrusion improves both its hardness and its wear resistance. whereas the fracture toughness is decreased

Properties of Cast Hiduminium/Corundum Particulate Composites

This paper reports some results obtained in an investigation to see how increasing the corundum dispersoid content from o% to 7% in a matrix of hiduminium alloy affects the tensile and compressive strengths, the hardness and the casting characteristics of the composite. The results show that as the corundum content is increased, ultimate tensile strength (UTS)- compressive strength and hardness increase remarkably, whereas fluidity of the molten composite during casting drops significantly. It was found that just a minute amount of corundum is sufficient to cause a fairly large change in the mechanical properties and the fluidity of the molten material.This drop in castability is one of the reasons why adding corundum beyond 7 percent is not recommended. If other factors are kept constant, the fluidity is seen to slightly improve if the pouring temperature of the molten metal were increased from 670 to 710℃

Dynamic thermo-mechanical coupled response of random particulate composites:A statistical two-scale method

This paper focuses on the dynamic thermo-mechanical coupled response of random particulate composite materials. Both the inertia term and coupling term are considered in the dynamic coupled problem. The formulation of the problem by a statistical second-order two-scale （SSOTS） analysis method and the algorithm procedure based on the finite-element difference method are presented. Numerical results of coupled cases are compared with those of uncoupled cases. It shows that the coupling effects on temperature, thermal flux, displacement, and stresses are very distinct, and the micro- characteristics of particles affect the coupling effect of the random composites. Furthermore, the coupling effect causes a lag in the variations of temperature, thermal flux, displacement, and stresses.

Elastic Properties of Particulate Composites with Imperfect Interface

An effective analytical approach is developed for the problem of pardculate composites containing spherical inclusion with imperfect interface between the matrix and spherical inclusions. In this paper, a general interface model for a variety of interfaced defects has been presented, in which both displacement discontinuity across the interface and the elastic moduli varing with radius outside of the inclusion are considered, The imperfect interface conditions are appropriate in the case of thin coatings on the inclusion. Furthermore, in the case of thin elastic interphase, the displacement field and the stress field in the inclusion and matrix are exactly solved for the boundary problem of hydrostatic compression of an infinite spherical symmetrical body by Frobenius series , and the expression of the normal interface parameter, Dr, is derived. In addition, it has been proved that two previous results derived in some literatures by considering the interface to be a thin interphase with displacement jump or with some variance in its moduli can be reverted from the present formula, respectively. Numerical results are given to demonstrate the significance of the general imperfect interface effects.

Crack nucleation and propagation simulation in brittle two-phase perforated/particulate composites by a phase field model

Fracture is a very common failure mode of the composite materials,which seriously affects the reliability and service-life of composite materials.Therefore,the study of the fracture behavior of the composite materials is of great significance and necessity,which demands an accurate and efficient numerical tool in general cases because of the complexity of the arising boundary-value or initial-boundary value problems.In this paper,a phase field model is adopted and applied for the numerical simulation of the crack nucleation and propagation in brittle linear elastic two-phase perforated/particulate composites under a quasi-static tensile loading.The phase field model can well describe the initiation,propagation and coalescence of the cracks without assuming the existence and the geometry of the initial cracks in advance.Its numerical implementation is realized within the framework of the finite element method(FEM).The accuracy and the efficiency of the present phase field model are verified by the available reference results in literature.In the numerical examples,we first study and discuss the influences of the hole/particle size on the crack propagation trajectory and the force-displacement curve.Then,the effects of the hole/particle shape on the crack initiation and propagation are investigated.Furthermore,numerical examples are presented and discussed to show the influences of the hole/particle location on the crack initiation and propagation characteristics.It will be demonstrated that the present phase field model is an efficient tool for the numerical simulation of the crack initiation and propagation problems in brittle two-phase composite materials,and the corresponding results may play an important role in predicting and preventing possible hazardous crack initiation and propagation in engineering applications.

EXTENSION OF COMBINED SELF-CONSISTENT AND MORI-TANAKA APPROACH TO EVALUATION OF ELASTOPLASTIC PROPERTY OF PARTICULATE COMPOSITES

The combined self-consistent and Mori-Tanaka approach proposed for the evaluation of the effective elastic property of particulate composites is extended to evMuate the effective elastoplastic property of particulate composites. Suppose there are sufficient identical particle inclusions with total volume fraction c in a representative volume element （RVE） of a particulate composite, these inclusions are separated into two groups, with volume fractions （1 -A-1）c and c/A over the RVE, respectively. We assume that the first group of inclusions has already been embedded in the original matrix to form a fictitious matrix, and the RVE of the composite consists of the fictitious matrix and the second group of particle inclusions. The property of the fictitious matrix is determined by the conventional self-consistent scheme, while the effective elastoplastic property of the composite is determined by the conventional Mori-Tanaka scheme. Analysis shows that, the conventional Mori-Tanaka scheme and self-consistent scheme can be obtained as the two limit cases of the extended approach as A = 1 and A = c~, respectively. The constitutive behavior of the inclusions in either Group I or Group II is identical, indicating the consistency in the description of the constitutive behavior in the two steps. ~klrthermore, the effective elastoplastic behavior of some typical particulate composites is analyzed, and the satisfactory agreement between the computational and experimental results demonstrates the validity of the extended approach. The introduced A can serve reasonably as a parameter, which is related to the actual property of composites and can be identified by experiments, for a more accurate evaluation of the effective elastoplastic property of particulate composites.

Diffusion Bonding of Silicon Carbide Particulate Reinforced 2024 Al Composites

A study has been made on diffusion bonding of SiCp/2024Ai composites by means of pure Al interlayer. In the condition of TB=843 K, PB=16 MPa, tB= 60 min, the diffusion bonded joint, with a shear strength of 235 MPa, was obtained when a 15 μm thick interlayer was used. The results of the shear testing and SEM indicate that fracture of the joint presented characteristics of ductile rupture.

Effective viscoelastic behavior of particulate polymer composites at finite concentration

Polymeric materials usually present some viscoelastic behavior. To improve the mechanical behavior of these materials, ceramics materials are often filled into the polymeric materials in form of fiber or particle. A micromechanical model was proposed to estimate the overall viscoelastic behavior for particulate polymer composites, especially for high volume concentration of filled particles. The method is based on Laplace transform technique and an elastic model including two-particle interaction. The effective creep compliance and the stress and strain relation at a constant loading rate are analyzed. The results show that the proposed method predicts a significant stiffer response than those based on Mori-Tanaka＇s method at high volume concentration of particles.

Numerical simulation of thermo-mechanical fatigue properties for particulate reinforced composites

In this paper, a two dimensional Voronoi cell element, formulated with creep, thermal and plastic strain, is applied for the numerical simulation of thermo-mechanical fatigue behavior for particulate reinforced composites. The relation between mechanical fatigue phases and thermal fatigue phases influences the thermo-mechanical fatigue behavior and cyclic creep damage. The topological features of micro-structure in particulate reinforced composites, such as the orientation, depth-width ratio, distribution and volume fraction of inclusions, have a great influence on thermo-mechanical behavior. Some related conclusions are obtained by examples of numerical simulation.

Statistical Analyses of the Strengths of Particulate Reinforced Metal Matrix Composites(PRMMCs)Subjected to Multiple Tensile and Shear Stresses

For design and application of particulate reinforced metal matrix composites(PRMMCs),it is essential to predict the material strengths and understand how do they relate to constituents and microstructural features.To this end,a computational approach consists of the direct methods,homogenization,and statistical analyses is introduced in our previous studies.Since failure of PRMMC materials are often caused by time-varied combinations of tensile and shear stresses,the established approach is extended in the present work to take into account of these situations.In this paper,ultimate strengths and endurance limits of an exemplary PRMMC material,WC-Co,are predicted under three independently varied tensile and shear stresses.In order to cover the entire load space with least amount of weight factors,a new method for generating optimally distributed weight factors in an n dimensional space is formulated.Employing weight factors determined by this algorithm,direct method calculations were performed on many statistically equivalent representative volume elements(SERVE)samples.Through analyzing statistical characteristics associated with results the study suggests a simplified approach to estimate the material strength under superposed stresses without solving the difficult high dimensional shakedown problem.

CHARACTERIZATION OF THERMO-MECHANICAL FATIGUE PROPERTIES FOR PARTICULATE REINFORCED COMPOSITES

A Voronoi cell dement, formulated with creep, thermal and plastic strain was applied for investigation of thermo-mechanical fatigue behavior for particulate reinforced composites. Under the in-phase fatigue loading, the maximum of tensile deformation at the maximum given loading are larger than that at the same maximum under the out-phase fatigue. The stiffness decreases nonlinearly with the increasing of the phase angle, which results in increasing of the area of fatigue loop curve and the decrease in fatigue life. The spatially centralizing of inclusions results in decreasing of the plastic strain amplitude and the area of fatigue loop curve, which will also reduce the consumption of single-circle plastic strain energy and prolong the fatigue life.

Investigation of Interfaces in Remelted A356-SiC Particulate Duralcan Metal Matrix Composite

For the manufacture of Al-based metalmatrix composites, the foundry productionroute can provide less expensive products witha greater flexibility in meeting designer’s needsamong a vaviety of fablication routes. Recent-ly, a commercially produced foundry ingot,the Duralcan composite of A356 Al alloy +20

SiCp/Al Composites Fabricated by Modified Squeeze Casting Technique

A cost effective method was introduced to fabricate pure aluminum matrix composites reinforced with 20% volume fraction of 3.5 μm SiC particles by squeeze casting followed by hot extrusion. In order to lower volume fraction of the composites, a mixed preform containing pure aluminum powder and the SiC particles was used. The suitable processing parameters for the infiltration of pure aluminum melt into the mixed preform are： melt temperature 800℃, preform temperature 500℃, infiltration pressure 5 MPa, and solidification pressure 50 MPa. Microstructure and properties of the composites in both as-cast and hot extruded states were investigated. The results indicate that hot extrusion can obviously improve the mechanical properties of the composite.

MICROSTRUCTURE AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF PARTICULATE REINFORCED MATRIX COMPOSITE

TiB2 - particulate- reinforced Ni3 Al composites were prepared by spray a tom-ization co-deposition technique. The reinforcement particulate can be uniformly distributedin matrix alloy, and no interaction would be found at interface between TiB, and Ni,Al.In a word, the composites possess comprehensive mechanical properties.

PHASES AND STRUCTURE OF PREFORM DURING PREPARING PROCESS OF Al／TiCp COMPOSITES BY DIRECT REACTION SYNTHESIS

Direct reaction synthesis(DRS), based on the principle of self-propagating hightemperature synthesis (SHS), is a new method for preparing particulate metal matrix composites (PMMCs). The effects of the temperature of the aluminum melt and the aluminum content in the preform on the phases and structure of the reacted preform have been investigated by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy.It has been shown that TiC phase is prone to be synthesized with the increasing of the temperature of the aluminum melt and the decreasing of the aluminum powder content in the preform, and that the size of TiC particle becomes fine with the increasing of the temperature and the decreasing of the aluminum powder content.

Simplification and improvement of prediction model for elastic modulus of particulate reinforced metal matrix composite

In this paper, we proposed a five-zone model to predict the elastic modulus of particulate reinforced metal matrix composite. We simplified the calculation by ignoring structural parameters including particulate shape, arrangement pattern and dimensional variance mode which have no obvious influence on the elastic modulus of a composite, and improved the precision of the method by stressing the interaction of interfaces with pariculates and maxtrix of the composite. The five- zone model can reflect effects of interface modulus on elastic modulus of composite. It overcomes limitations of expressions of rigidity mixed law and flexibility mixed law. The original idea of five zone model is to put forward the particulate/interface interactive zone and matrix/interface interactive zone. By organically integrating the rigidity mixed law and flexibility mixed law, the model can predict the engineering elastic constant of a composite effectively.

Synergistic effects of high-entropy engineering and particulate toughening on the properties of rare-earth aluminate-based ceramic composites

Rare-earth aluminates(REAIOs)are potential thermal barrier coating(TBC)materials,but the relatively high thermal conductivity(ko,~13.6 W·m^(-1)·K^(-1))and low fracture toughness(K_(1c),-1.9 MPa·m^(1/2))limit their application.This work proposed a strategy to improve their properties through the synergistic effects of high-entropy engineering and particulate toughening.High-entropy(La_(0.2)Nd_(0.2)Sm_(0.2)Eu_(0.2)Gd_(0.2)AlO_(3))(HEAO)-based particulate composites with different contents of high-entropy(La_(0.2)Nd_(0.2)Sm_(0.2)Eu_(0.2)Gd_(0.2))_(2)Zr_(2)O_(7)(HEZO)were designed and successfully prepared by solid-state sintering.The high-entropy feature of both the matrix and secondary phases causes the strong phonon scattering and the incorporation of the HEZO secondary phase,remarkedly inhibiting the grain growth of the HEAO phase.As a result,HEAO-xHEZO(x=0,5%,10%,25%,and 50%in volume)ceramic composites show low thermal conductivity and high fracture toughness.Compared to the most commonly applied TBC material-yttria stabilized-zirconia(YSZ),the HEAO-25%HEZO particulate composite has a lower thermal conductivity of 0.96-1.17 W·m^(-1)·K^(-1)(298-1273 K),enhanced fracture toughness of 3.94±0.35 MPa-m,and comparable linear coefficient of thermal expansion(CTE)of 10.5×10^(-6)K^(-1).It is believed that the proposed strategy should be revelatory for the design of new coating materials including TBCs and environmental barrier coatings(EBCs).

Preparation and Mechanical Properties of-SiC Nanoparticle Reinforced Aluminum Matrix Composite by a Multi-step Powder Metallurgy Process

β-SiC nanoparticle reinforced A1 matrix （nano-SiCp/A1） composite was prepared by a multi- step powder metallurgy strategy including presureless sintering, hot compacting process and hot extrusion. The microstructures of the as-prepared composites were observed by scanning electronic microscopy （SEM）, and the mechanical properties were characterized by tensile strength measurement and Brinell hardness test. The experimental results revealed that the tensile strength of the composite with the addition of 5wt%/3-SIC nanoprtieles could be increased to 215 MPa, increasing by 110% compared with pure A1 matrix. Comparative experiments reflected that theβ-SIC nanoprticles showed significant reinforcement effect than traditional a-SiC micro-sized particles. The preparation process and sintering procedure were investigated to develop a cost effective preparation strategy to fabricate nano-SiCp/A1 composite.