Effect of geometry and volume fraction of fibers on creep in short fiber reinforced aluminum alloys

Creep in short fiber reinforced aluminum alloys is a result of three interconnected elementary microstructural processes: (i) loading of fibers by dislocations; (ii) unloading of fibers by a recovery process in which dislocation loops move to the fiber ends; and (iii) fiber breakage. The present work supports this view in showing that a model which is based on this microstructural scenario can successfully predict the creep behavior of short fiber reinforced aluminum matrix composites with different fiber volume fractions. The present work also addresses the influence of the fiber aspect ratio distribution on the creep process.