Effects of shape and volume fraction of second phase on stress states in two-phase materials

The effects of shape and volume fraction of a second phase on stress states and deformation behavior of two-phase materials are discussed. The second phase is treated as inhomogeneous spheroidal inclusions embedded in a matrix. Analytical expressions to describe the stress states in elastically and plastically deformed two-phase materials are obtained with the Eshelby method and the Mori–Tanaka concept of the ‘average stress’. The variation of the stress states with the change in the aspect ratio of the spheroidal second-phase is shown for various volume fractions. Considering that the second phase is also plastically deformable, the overall deformation behavior of the two-phase materials is discussed with the results obtained by the evaluation of the stress and strain distributions in the materials.