Numerical simulation on elastic properties of short-fiber-reinforced metal matrix composites: Effect of fiber orientation

To investigate the effect of fiber orientation on the effective elastic properties of short-fiber-reinforced metal matrix composites, the two-step mean-field homogenization procedures including the D-I/Reuss, M-T/Reuss, D-I/Reuss, M-T/Voigt and D-M/V-R models are introduced and the corresponding numerical implementations are detailed. Compared with the RVE based FE homogenization method, the two-step mean-field homogenization procedures: D-I/Reuss, M-T/Reuss, D-I/Reuss, M-T/Voigt and D-M/V-R models to predict the effective elastic properties of short-fiber-reinforced metal matrix composites are validated. The simulation results show that the effective elastic moduli E-22 and E-33 of short-fiber-reinforced metal matrix composites with the aligned fibers reach the minimums around theta = 60 degrees and 30 degrees, respectively, but not 90 degrees or 0 degrees, while the effective shear modulus G23 reaches a maximum at theta = 45 degrees and shows a symmetrical distribution. For short-fiber reinforced metal matrix composites with the planarly randomly distributed fibers, the effective elastic moduli E-22 and E-33 are close to those of short-fiber reinforced metal matrix composites with the aligned fibers presenting the orientation angle theta of 35 degrees and 55 degrees, respectively, but not 45 degrees, while the effective shear modulus G(23) is close to those of short-fiber reinforced metal matrix composites reinforced by the aligned fibers with the orientation angles of both 20 degrees and 70 degrees. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.