Thermal mismatch stress in SiC whisker reinforced aluminium composite: new measurement method by X-ray diffraction

A new X-ray diffraction method for characterising thermal mismatch stress (TMS) in SiC_w–Al composite has been developed. The TMS and thermal mismatch strain (TMSN) in SiC whiskers are considered to be axis symmetrical, and can be calculated by measuring the lattice distortion of the whiskers. Not only the average TMS in whiskers and matrix can be obtained, but the TMS components along longitudinal and radial directions in the SiC whiskers can also be deduced. Experimental results indicate that the TMS in SiC whiskers is compressive, and tensile in the aluminium matrix. The TMS and TMSN components along the longitudinal direction in the SiC whiskers are greater than those along the radial direction for a SiC_w–Al composite quenched at 500°C.

Wear Studies of Hydroxyapatite Composite Coating Reinforced by Carbon Nanotubes

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been successfully introduced into hydroxyapatite (HA) coatings using laser surface alloying. It is evident from transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations that the CNTs present in the matrix still keep their multi-walled cylinder graphic structure, although they undergo the laser irradiation. Scratching test results indicated that the as-alloyed HA composite coatings exhibit improved wear resistance and lower friction coefficient with increasing the amount of CNTs in the precursor material powders. These composites have potential applications in the field of coating materials for metal implants under high-load-bearing conditions. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Microstructure and Tribological Properties of Laser Clad gamma/Cr7C3/Tic Composite Coatings on gamma-TiA1 Intermetallic Alloy

In order to improve the wear resistance of the gamma-TiAl intermetallic alloy, microstructure, room- and high-temperature (600 degrees C) wear behaviors of laser clad gamma/Cr7C3/TiC composite coatings with different constitution of NiCr-Cr3C2 precursor-mixed powders have been investigated by optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive spectrometer (EDS), block-on-ring (room-temperature) and pin-on-disk (high-temperature) wear tests. The responding wear mechanisms are discussed in detail. Results show that microstructures of the laser clad composite coatings have non-equilibrium solidified microstructures consisting of primary hard Cr7C3 and TiC carbides and the inter-primary gamma/Cr7C3 eutectic matrix, about three to five times higher average microhardness compared with the TiAl alloy substrate. Higher wear resistance than the original TiAl alloy is achieved in the clad composite coatings under dry sliding wear conditions, which is closely related to the formation of non-equilibrium solidified reinforced Cr7C3 and TiC carbides and the positive contribution of the relatively ductile and tough gamma/Cr7C3 eutectics matrix and their stability under high-temperature exposure.

An elasto-plastic constitutive relation of whisker-reinforced metal-matrix composite

A material model for whisker-reinforced metal-matrix composites is constructed that consists of three kinds of essential elements: elastic medium, equivalent slip system, and fiber-bundle. The heterogeneity of material constituents in position is averaged, while the orientation distribution of whiskers and slip systems is considered in the structure of the material model. Crystal and interface sliding criteria are addressed. Based on the stress-strain response of the model material, an elasto-plastic constitutive relation is derived to discuss the initial and deformation induced anisotropy as well as other fundamental features. Predictions of the present theory for unidirectional-fiber-reinforced aluminum matrix composites are favorably compared with FEM results.

Deformation behavior and microstructure effect in 2124Al/SiCp composite

Dynamic compression tests were performed by means of a Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB). Test materials were 2124Al alloys reinforced with 17% volume fraction of 3, 13 and 37 μm SiC particles, respectively. Under strain rate ε = 2100 l/s, SiC particles have a strong effect on σ_0.2 of the composites and the σ_0.2 increases with different SiC particle size in the following order: 2124Al-alloy → 124Al/SiC_p (37 μm) → 2124Al/SiC_p (13 μm) → 2124Al/SiC_p (3 μm), and the strain hardening of the composites depends mainly on the strain hardening of matrix, 2124A1 alloy. The results of dimensional analysis present that the flow stress of these composites not only depends on the property of reinforcement and matrix but also relates to the microstructure scale, matrix grain size, reinforcement size, the distance between reinforcements and dislocations in matrix. The normalized flow stress here is a function of inverse power of the edge-edge particle spacing, dislocation density and matrix grain size. Close-up observation shows that, in the composite containing SiC particles (3 μm), localized deformation formed readily comparing with other materials under the same loading condition. Microscopic observations indicate that different plastic flow patterns occur within the matrix due to the presence of hard particles with different sizes.

In situ formation by laser cladding of a TiC composite coating with a gradient distribution

An in situ method was developed to produce an Ni alloy composite coating reinforced by in situ reacted TiC particles with a gradient distribution, using one-step laser cladding with a pre-placed powder mixture on a 5CrMnMo steel substrate. Dispersed and ultra-fine TIC particles were formed in situ in the coating. Most. of the TiC particles, with a marked gradient distribution, were uniformly distributed within interdendritic regions because of the trapping effect of the advancing solid-liquid interface. In addition, the TiC-gamma-Ni interfaces generated in situ were found to be free from any deleterious surface reaction. Finally, the microhardness also showed a gradient variation, with the highest value of 1250 Hv0.2 and the wear properties of the coating were significantly enhanced.

Influence of thermal residual stresses on the composite macroscopic behavior

The influence of the thermal residual stress on the deformation behavior of a composite has been analyzed with a new micromechanical method. The method is based on secant moduli approximation and a new homogenized effective stress to characterize the plastic state of the matrix. It is found that the generated thermal residual stresses after cooling and their influence on the subsequent deformation behavior depends significantly on the aspect ratio of the inclusions. With prolate inclusions, the presence of thermal residual stresses generate a higher compressive hardening curves of the composite, but it is reversed with oblate inclusions. For particle reinforced composite, thermal residual stresses induce a tensile hardening curve higher than the compressive one and this is in agreement with experimental observations. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd.

Laser synthesizing NiAl intermetallic and TiC reinforced NiAl intermetallic matrix composite

The NiAl intermetallic layers and NiAl matrix composite layers with TiC particulate reinforcement were successfully synthesized by laser cladding with coaxial powder feeding of Ni/Al clad powder and Ni/Al + TiC powder mixture, respectively. With optimized processing parameters and powder mixture compositions, the synthesized layers were free of cracks and metallurgical bond with the substrate. The microstructure of the laser-synthesized layers was composed of 6-NiAl phase and a few gamma phases for NiAl intermetallic; unmelted TiC, dispersive fine precipitated TiC particles and refined beta-NiAl phase matrix for TiC reinforced NiAl intermetallic composite. The average microhardness was 355 HV0.1 and 538 HV0.1, respectively. Laser synthesizing and direct metal depositing offer promising approaches for producing NiAl intermetallic and TiC-reinforced NiAl metal matrix composite coatings and for fabricating NiAl intermetallic bulk structure. (C) 2004 Laser Institute of America.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of a novel Zr-based bulk metallic glass composite

Zr48.5Cu46.5Al5 bulk metallic glass (BMG) composites with diameters of 3 and,4 mm were prepared through suction casting in an arc melting furnace by modulating the alloy composition around the monothetic BMG composition of the high glass forming ability. Microstructural characterization reveals that the composites contain micron-sized CuZr phase with martensite structure, as well as nano-sized Zr2Cu crystalline particles and Cu10Zr7 plate-like phase embedded in an amorphous matrix. Room temperature compression tests showed that the composites exhibited significant strain hardening and obvious plastic strain of 7.7% for 3 nun and 6.4% for 4 nun diameter samples, respectively.

Microstructure and high-temperature wear and oxidation resistance of laser clad gamma/W2C/TiC composite coatings on gamma-TiAl intermetallic alloy

There are very strong interests in improving the high-temperature wear resistance of the y-TiAl intermetallic alloy, especially when applied as tribological moving components. In this paper, microstructure, high-temperature dry sliding wear at 600 degrees C and isothermal oxidation at 1000 degrees C on ambient air of laser clad gamma/W2C/TiC composite coatings with different constitution of Ni-Cr-W-C precursor mixed powders on TiAl alloy substrates have been investigated. The results show that microstructure of the laser fabricated composite coatings possess non-equilibrium microstructure consisting of the matrix of nickel-base solid solution gamma-NiCrAl and reinforcements of TiC, W2C and M23C6 carbides. Higher wear resistance than the original TiAl alloy is achieved in the composite coatings under high-temperature wear test conditions. However, the oxidation resistance of the laser clad gamma/W2C/TiC composite coatings is deceased. The corresponding mechanisms resulting in the above behaviors of the laser clad composite coatings are discussed. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Composite materials dynamic fracture studies by generalized Shmuely difference algorithm

The generalized Shmuely Difference Algorithm (GSDA) is presented here to analyze the dynamic fracture performance of orthogonal-anisotropic composite materials, such as glass fibre reinforced phenolplast. The difference recurrence Formulae and boundary condition difference extrapolation formulae are derived and programmed. The dynamic stress intensity factors (DSIF) of the isotropic and anisotropic centrally cracked plates are computed respectively using GSDA and compared with that published previously. GSDA is proved effective and reliable. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.

Bending solution of high-order refined shear deformation-theory for rectangular composite plates

A new high-order refined shear deformation theory based on Reissner's mixed variational principle in conjunction with the state- space concept is used to determine the deflections and stresses for rectangular cross-ply composite plates. A zig-zag shaped function and Legendre polynomials are introduced to approximate the in-plane displacement distributions across the plate thickness. Numerical results are presented with different edge conditions, aspect ratios, lamination schemes and loadings. A comparison with the exact solutions obtained by Pagano and the results by Khdeir indicates that the present theory accurately estimates the in-plane responses.

Effects of contact resistance on thermal-conductivity of composite media with a periodic structure

The thermal conductivity of periodic composite media with spherical or cylindrical inclusions embedded in a homogeneous matrix is discussed. Using Green functions, we show that the Rayleigh identity can be generalized to deal with thermal properties ot these systems. A new calculating method for effective conductivity of composite media is proposed. Useful formulae for effective thermal conductivity are derived, and meanings of contact resistance in engineering problems are explained.

Thermal-conductivity of periodic composite media with spherical inclusions

The thermal conductivity of periodic composite media with spherical inclusions embedded in a homogeneous matrix is discussed. Using Green's function, we show that the Rayleigh identity can be generalized to deal with the thermal properties of these systems. A technique for calculating effective thermal conductivities is proposed. Systems with cubic symmetries (including simple cubic, body centered cubic and face centered cubic symmetry) are investigated in detail, and useful formulae for evaluating effective thermal conductivities are derived.