Modeling the fracture toughness and tensile ductility of SiCp/Al metal matrix composites

This paper develops a mechanical model to describe the fracture toughness and tensile ductility of SiCp/Al metal matrix composites based on Eshelby method and Weibull distribution. It has been shown that the model predictions are in reasonable agreement with the experimental counterparts. The fracture toughness and tensile ductility of the composite are lower than the comparative alloys, and decrease as the volume fraction of the SiC particles increases. The size of the SiC particles also has effects on the tensile ductility and fracture toughness. The SiC particles will initiate microcracks during deformation, and thus decrease the fracture toughness and tensile ductility of the composites.