Thermal cycling behavior of aluminum matrix composites reinforced with SiC particles

A finite element modeling based on the actual microstructure is established to analyse the thermal cycling behavior of metal Al matrix composites (MMC). The distribution of Von Mises effective stress and principle stress is presented, and the results show that during the heating, the thermal stress is negative in matrix, but positive in particles; during the cooling, the thermal stress is positive in matrix, but negative in particles. Simultaneously, the principle stress σ₂₂ after three thermal cycles is calculated to be steady after the two cycles. The effect of volume fraction on the thermal cycles is analysed in the cell model, finding that the distribution of von Mises stress is more uniform than the previous model. Through comparison, it is shown that the composites with high volume particle fraction possess a higher dimensional stability.