The effects of three-dimensional multi-particle arrangements on the mechanical behavior and damage initiation of particle-reinforced MMCs

A study of particle-reinforced metal-matrix composites (MMCs) by three-dimensional multi-inclusion unit cells is presented. It employs cube-shaped cells containing some 20 randomly positioned spherical inclusions to approximate statistically homogeneous arrangements of elastic particles embedded in an elastoplastic matrix. Three-dimensional simple periodic arrays as well as two-dimensional arrangements of particles in a matrix are considered for comparison. Uniaxial tensile loading is modeled and results for the macroscale and microscale mechanical responses are evaluated in terms of ensemble and phase averages. To assess damage initiation by particle fracture the maximum principal stresses in the elastic inclusions are used to calculate fracture probabilities by using Weibull statistics. Clear differences between multi-particle models and simple periodic arrangements as well as between planar and three-dimensional models are found in terms of the overall moduli, of the phase averages and standard deviations of the microscale stress and strain fields, and of the particle fracture probabilities.

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