Effect of volume fraction on the flow behavior of Al-SiC composites considering the spatial distribution of delaminated particles

The effect of the volume fraction of second-phase particles on the distribution of damaged particles and its relation to the tensile deformation behavior were investigated in the particle reinforced metal-matrix composites, Al-SiC. The spatial distributions of all SiC particles and the delaminated SiC particles were evaluated from their two-dimensional local number (LN2D). During tensile deformation, larger SiC particles in more highly clustered regions were more easily delaminated at the particle/matrix interface. The amount of particle delamination in the more highly clustered region increased with increasing volume fraction and strain during tensile deformation. A model was developed to explain the flow behavior of the composites; this showed a good fit to the experimental results in the presence of particle damage, especially when the spatial distribution of damaged particles was taken into consideration.