Author(s)

M.B. Bush

Abstract

Invited Paper Cracking and fracture of particle reinforced composite materials M.B. Bush Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, The University of Western Australia, Nedlands, 6009, Australia ABSTRACT A dual boundary element formulation is used to model the elastic cracking of particulate silicon carbide reinforced aluminium alloy. An energy release rate criterion is used to track the crack path. Sub-structuring is used to allow for the different properties of the component phases. Interfacial debonding occurs when the tensile stress on the interface exceeds a predetermined value. The crack trajectories and energy release rates near a single particle are presented. The preliminary results reported here indicate that the trajectory is not sensitive to particle shape, but very sensitive to volume fraction and interfacial strength. INTRODUCTION The fracture properties of a material are of fundamental importance when considering the engineering applicat

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