Prediction of Directional Young's Modulus of Particulate Reinforced MMC using Finite Element Methods

Abstract

The aim of this present study is to predict the Young's Moduli of metal matrix composite (MMC) by three dimensional (3-D) Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and compare the results with Halpin-Tsai (HT) model. In the present work, cubic shaped Representative Volume Element (RVE) has been considered to model the MMC. Particle is taken as cylindrical in shape. The parameters considered in present study are particle aspect ratio (ratio of height and diameter) and volume fraction. Further, a wide range of the modulus ratios (ratios of Young's moduli of particle and matrix) have been considered to investigate their effects on effective Young's modulus of the composite. It is observed from the study that the modulus ratio, aspect ratio and volume fraction of particle are the most dominating factors in directional effective Young's modulus of metal matrix composite.