Interface Characteristics Of Silicon Carbide Particles Reinforced Aluminum Composites:Experimental Investigation And Finite Element Simulation

In accordance with the increasing demand for metal matrix composites,with high mechanical behaviors and isotropic properties,many researchers have carried out experiments on aluminum matrix composites.In this research,we established a model to understand the behavior of silicon carbide(SiC)particles reinforced aluminum composites at its interface.The influence of SiC particles over mechanical properties of SiC/Al composite depends on volume fraction,distribution and size of reinforced particles,but also on the reinforcement/matrix interface which significantly iMPact the bulk properties of the material.Extracting the characteristics at the interface is essential as it allows us to predict the failure mechanisms.The aim of this research is to investigate the properties at the interface between SiC particle and the aluminum matrix for different kind of matrixes.We will especially focus on the influence of the shape of the particle and the aluminum matrix nature.Nanoindentation method will be carried in order to extract the mechanical properties and the experimental results will be validated under its finite element simulation(FE).A model of the indentation process at the interface particle/matrix was therefore build,the simulations were carried for different geometry of the interface of the composite and for different aluminum materials.For the experimental and simulation part,4 different matrixes with different yield strength were tested : Pure Al,Al6061,Al2A14 and Al2024.For each composites,hardness and modulus were extracted at the vicinity between aluminum and SiC particles.The results showed a strong dependency on the particle shape and on the matrix nature.The numerical model was compared with the experimental nanoindentation results in order to confront the veracity of the simulation.