Microstructure-based numerical simulation of the mechanical properties and fracture of a Ti-Al3Ti core-shell structured particulate reinforced A356 composite. (June 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ma, Siming; Zhang, Xuezheng; Chen, Tijun; Wang, Xiaoming
• Is Part Of: Materials & design. Volume 191(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-06
• Subjects: Aluminum matrix composite -- Metal matrix composite -- Core–shell structure -- Finite element analysis -- Mechanical property -- Representative volume element; Materials -- Periodicals; Engineering design -- Periodicals; Matériaux -- Périodiques; Conception technique -- Périodiques; Electronic journals; 620.11
• DOI: 10.1016/j.matdes.2020.108685
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0264-1275

Abstract

Abstract: A microstructure-based numerical simulation is performed to understand the mechanical properties and fracture of a Ti-Al3 Ti core-shell structured particulate reinforced A356 composite ((Ti-Al3 Ti)cs /A356). A series of two-dimensional (2D) representative volume element (RVE) models are generated automatically by embedding Ti-Al3 Ti core-shell structured particulates in an A356 matrix. Microstructure-based 2D RVE of monolithic Al3 Ti particulate reinforced A356 composite (Al3 Tip /A356) is also simulated for comparison. The ductile fracture of both Ti core and A356 matrix as well as the brittle fracture of the Al3 Ti shell are considered. The simulation confirms that the high elongation of the (Ti-Al3 Ti)cs /A356 composite is attributed to the uniform distribution of the overall ductile globular reinforcing particulates, which prevent a premature failure effectively by reducing local stress concentration both on and inside the core-shell structured particulates. The surrounding ductile phases of the Al3 Ti shell blunt the crack tips effectively and, therefore, restricting the propagation of the cracks in a nominal strain range of 2.2%–6.1%. For both (Ti-Al3 Ti)cs /A356 and Al3 Tip /A356 composites, the simulation results are in good agreement with microstructural observations during an in-situ tensile test in a scanning electron microscope. Graphical abstract: Unlabelled Image Highlights: Tensile and fracture of a Ti-Al3 Ti core-shell structured particulate reinforced A356 composite were studied Constitutive behaviors of the CS particulates are obtained by a reverse analysis algorithm from nano-indentation results The high ductility of the Ti-Al3 Ti CS particulate reinforced A356 composite is is well explained by simulation The predicted fracture behavior shows a satisfactory agreement with the observation in in-situ tensile test