Effects of particle size on deformation behaviour of metal matrix composites

By incorporating the dislocation strengthening effect into the Mori-Tanaka method, a new hybrid approach is developed in the present paper for calculating the deformation response of SiCp/Al composites. The diameters of the particles are 1, 5, 20 and 56 μm. Both numerical and experimental results indicate a close relationship between the particle size and the deformation behaviour of the composites at a constant particle volume fraction. The yield strength and plastic work hardening rate of the composites increase with decreasing particle size. The predicted stress-strain behaviour of the composites is in qualitative agreement with the experimental results. By incorporating Weibull statistics for particle fracture, the results simulated are agreed well with the experimental results for particle size >5 nm.