Metal matrix composite solidification in the presence of cooled fibers: numerical simulation and experimental observation

Attempts have been made to alter the solidification microstructures of fiber reinforced aluminum composites by cooling the ends of the fibers extending out of the mold. Experimental observations indicate that cooling the extended ends of the reinforcement results in finer microstructures in the matrix and changes the nature of the interface. In this paper, numerical simulation is performed on a two-dimensional axi-symmetric model to investigate the solidification process of metal matrix composite (MMC) with the extended ends of the fibers cooled by a heat sink. The numerical simulation is based on the source-based enthalpy method with finite volume discretization. The temperature profiles obtained by simulation are compared to the cooling curves measured experimentally in order to validate the current mathematical model. It is found that the simulation result matches the experimental data with reasonable agreement.     

Simultaneous transfer of heat and mass occurring in casting process

Studied in this paper is simultaneous transfer of heat and water vapor which takes place in a green sand mold in a very short period of time after pouring a molten metal in its cavity. Governing equations describing heat and mass transfer in a mold are solved by finite difference method and the results are compared with the actually measured values to examine the validity of the calculated results. The effect of thermal properties and permeability of the mold, the amount of water contained, the heating temperature (i.e., temperature of casting metal) and other factors on the heat transfer rate at the interface between the molten metal and the mold, the pressure rise in the mold and the development of dried zone around the casting are investigated to propose some empirical relations available for predicting those transfer phenomena by using dimensionless parameters presented.     

A 3/D finite element approach for metal matrix composites based on micromechanical models

Based on analytical considerations by Dvorak and Bahel-El-Din, a 3/D finite element material law has been developed for the elastic-plastic analysis of unidirectional fiber-reinforced metal matrix composites. The material law described in this paper has been implemented in the finite element code ABAQUS via the user subroutine UMAT. A constitutive law is described under the assumption that the fibers are linear-elastic and the matrix is of a von Mises-type with a Prager-Ziegler kinematic hardening rule. The uniaxial effective stress-strain relationship of the matrix in the plastic range is approximated by a Ramberg-Osgood law, a linear hardening rule or a nonhardening rule. Initial yield surface of the matrix material and for the fiber reinforced composite are compared to show the effect of reinforcement. Implementation of this material law in a finite element program is shown. Furthermore, the efficiency of substepping schemes and stress corrections for the numerical integration of the elastic-plastic stress-strain relations for anisotropic materials are investigated. The results of uniaxial monotonic tests of a boron/aluminum composite are compared to some finite element analyses based on micromechanical considerations. Furthermore a complete 3/D analysis of a tensile test specimen made of a silicon-carbide/aluminum MMC and the analysis of an MMC inlet inserted in a homogenous material are shown.     

Numerical and Experimental Evaluation of Dispersion Coefficient for Resin Transfer Modeling

Resin transfer molding (RTM) is a composite manufacturing process. A preformed fiber is placed in a closed mold and a viscous resin is injected into the mold. In this article, a model is developed to predict the flow pattern, extent of reaction, and temperature change during the filling and curing in a thin rectangular mold. A numerical simulation is presented to predict the free surface and its interactions with heat transfer and cure for flow of a shear-thinning resin through the preformed fiber.To simulate this process, using local thermal equilibrium assumption, it is essential to include the thermal dispersion term in energy equation. The best method to achieve this result is experimental simulation and preparing proportionate system at simple conditions without curing. By comparison of recorded temperature values (using installed instruments at various locations), and the corresponding results from numerical solution for different estimated values of dispersion coefficient, this coefficient has been evaluated based on the best matching estimate. The results show that, to simulate composite manufacturing process by RTM method, the effect of dispersion term in energy equation shall not be neglected.     

Ni-W-Co/SiC复合材料磨损特性与磨损机制

研究了ＳｉＣ颗粒和ＳｉＣ晶须为复合第二相的Ｎｉ－Ｗ－Ｃｏ合金基复合材料的磨损特性和磨损机制．结果表明,复合相含量、几何特性及载荷和滑动速度对复合材料的耐磨性影响很大．其原因在于ＳｉＣ颗粒与ＳｉＣ晶须以不同的形式发生流失．     

稻壳粉含量对树脂基复合材料摩擦学性能的影响

为促进制动摩擦材料环保化及废弃材料再利用,以不同含量的农业副产品稻壳粉为填料,改性酚醛树脂为基体,竹纤维、镁盐晶须和硫酸钙晶须为增强相,石墨和铜粉为摩擦性能调节剂,采用热压成型方法制备新型环保摩擦材料,并对复合材料的力学性能和摩擦学性能进行研究.结果表明:随着稻壳粉含量的增加,试样的冲击强度先增加后下降,而洛氏硬度不断减小.摩擦系数随稻壳粉含量的增加先增大后降低,在高温阶段,稻壳粉填料可以促进摩擦层的形成,稳定摩擦系数,改善热衰退性能,提高耐热性和热稳定性.稻壳粉质量分数为15%时其综合性能最好.     

Time-dependent thermoelastic creep analysis of rotating disk made of Al–SiC composite

Time-dependent creep stress redistribution analysis of rotating disk made of Al–SiC composite is investigated using Mendelson’s method of successive elastic solution. All mechanical and thermal properties except Poisson’s ratio are radial dependent based on volume fraction percent of SiC reinforcement. The material creep behavior is described by Sherby’s constitutive model using Pandey’s experimental results on Al–SiC composite. Loading is an inertia body force due to rotation and a distributed temperature field due to steady-state heat conduction from inner to outer surface of the disk. Using equations of equilibrium, stress strain, and strain displacement, a differential equation, containing creep strains, for displacement is obtained. History of stresses and deformations are calculated using method of successive elastic solution. It is concluded that the uniform distribution of SiC reinforcement does not considerably influence on stresses. However, the minimum and most uniform distribution of circumferential and effective thermoelastic stresses belongs to composite disk of aluminum with 0% SiC at inner surface and 40% SiC at outer surface. It has also been found that the stresses, displacement, and creep strains are changing with time at a decreasing rate so that after almost 50 years the solution approaches the steady-state condition.     

纤维增强复合材料热隐身斗篷设计

基于变换热动力学原理可获得具有热隐身性能的隐身结构(隐身斗篷)所需要的材料性质的空间分布。但这种材料性质的复杂分布形式以及局部热传导性能无限大等极值性质需求,使得隐身斗篷设计的实现非常困难,需要研究基于常规材料的隐身斗篷设计。本文基于常规材料的热隐身结构实现问题,提出了基于纤维增强复合材料圆环结构的实现热隐身的结构形式。首先,基于变换热动力学原理获得热隐身所需的热传导系数沿半径方向的变化规律;进而,通过设计复合材料不同位置的纤维铺设方式(含量和铺设方向)实现热隐身对材料性能的需求。选择金属银作为纤维,空气作为基体,设计出了具有热隐身性能的复合材料圆环结构纤维含量和铺设方向沿径向的分布方案。对该设计方案进行数值仿真,结果显示所设计的隐身结构具有良好的热隐身性能。由于设计方案基于常规材料,因此具有容易实现的优点。     

三维机织复合材料力学性能研究进展

对近年来关于三维机织复合材料力学性能的研究作了综述和归纳。研究表明,三维机织复合材料的力学性能不仅取决于纤维和基体的性能,而且与三维增强结构形式密切相关。通过对三维机织增强结 构的研究,获得了机织复合材料的细观结构和主要力学特征的关系,强调了增强纤维束轴向几何特征和截面形状对材料细观结构的重要影响。试验研究集中于观测机织复合材料的破坏模式,以分析三维机织结构对阻止损伤微裂纹扩展的贡献。理论分析方面较为成熟的研究是三维机织复合材料线弹性力学性能,其研究基础是层板理论模型、取向平均模型和有限元分析模型。而对强度及损伤方面的研究还有待于进一步的工作。本文对当前研究工作中的关键问题进行分析,并就今后的研究工作发表一些看法。      

Analytical transient phase change heat transfer model of wearable electronics with a thermal protection substrate

As thermal protection substrates for wearable electronics, functional soft composites made of polymer materials embedded with phase change materials and metal layers demonstrate unique capabilities for the thermal protection of human skin. Here, we develop an analytical transient phase change heat transfer model to investigate the thermal performance of a wearable electronic device with a thermal protection substrate. The model is validated by experiments and the finite element analysis (FEA). The effects of the substrate structure size and heat source power input on the temperature management efficiency are investigated systematically and comprehensively. The results show that the objective of thermal management for wearable electronics is achieved by the following thermal protection mechanism. The metal thin film helps to dissipate heat along the in-plane direction by reconfiguring the direction of heat flow, while the phase change material assimilates excessive heat. These results will not only promote the fundamental understanding of the thermal properties of wearable electronics incorporating thermal protection substrates, but also facilitate the rational design of thermal protection substrates for wearable electronics.     

Simulation of fiber reinforced composite materials mold filling process and mechanical properties analysis

A dynamic simulation of fiber reinforced composite materials mold filling process with double inlets is presented based on the gas–solid–liquid model proposed by Yang et al. [B.X. Yang, J. Ouyang, J. Tao, C.T. Liu, Modeling and simulation of fiber reinforced polymer mold filling process by level set method, CMES – Computer Modeling in Engineering and Sciences 63 (3) (2010) 191–222]. Numerical results show that the fibers far away from the melt interface are in skin-core-skin structure, while those near the interface are almost parallel to the arc of the interface. When the two streams of melts meet, the weld line will be formed, where the orientation of fibers is perpendicular to the flow direction. The orientation of fibers of the numerical result shows well agreement with the experimental results. Finally, the mechanical properties of fiber reinforced composite materials are analyzed. The composite materials with skin-core-skin structure are regarded as laminated orthogonal plywood and the elastic modulus, the shear modulus and Poisson’s ratio are predicted under different slenderness ratios and fiber volume fractions.     

Comparison of interfacial heat transfer coefficient estimated by two different techniques during solidification of cylindrical aluminum alloy casting

The interfacial heat transfer coefficient (IHTC) is necessary for accurate simulation of the casting process. In this study, a cylindrical geometry is selected for the determination of the IHTC between aluminum alloy casting and the surrounding sand mold. The mold surface heat flux and temperature are estimated by two inverse heat conduction techniques, namely Beck’s algorithm and control volume technique. The instantaneous cast and mold temperatures are measured experimentally and these values are used in the theoretical investigations. In the control volume technique, partial differential heat conduction equation is reduced to ordinary differential equations in time, which are then solved sequentially. In Beck’s method, solution algorithm is developed under the function specification method to solve the inverse heat conduction equations. The IHTC was determined from the surface heat flux and the mold surface temperature by both the techniques and the results are compared.     

Numerical homogenization of elastic and thermal material properties for metal matrix composites (MMC)

A two-scale material modeling approach is adopted in order to determine macroscopic thermal and elastic constitutive laws and the respective parameters for metal matrix composite (MMC). Since the common homogenization framework violates the thermodynamical consistency for non-constant temperature fields, i.e., the dissipation is not conserved through the scale transition, the respective error is calculated numerically in order to prove the applicability of the homogenization method. The thermomechanical homogenization is applied to compute the macroscopic mass density, thermal expansion, elasticity, heat capacity and thermal conductivity for two specific MMCs, i.e., aluminum alloy Al2024 reinforced with 17 or 30 % silicon carbide particles. The temperature dependency of the material properties has been considered in the range from 0 to \(500{\,}^\circ \mathrm {C}\), the melting temperature of the alloy. The numerically determined material properties are validated with experimental data from the literature as far as possible.     

Optimization of size and shape of composite heat sinks with phase change materials

A composite heat sink is one in which a phase change material is interspersed with a high thermal conductivity base material to maximize the thermal performance of the device. Unlike constant area fins considered in literature, this work considers a repeating elemental composite heat sink (ECHS) with variable area fins. The base material is aluminium and the phase change material is n-Eicosane. An in house code was developed in MATLAB© to determine the time of operation for a vertical fins ECHS for a one dimensional approximation. This was followed by a two dimensional analysis of the problem using FLUENT 6.3. The effects of the shape of the interface surface on the time of operation and overall heat dissipated are determined and design modifications for the composite Heat Sinks based on the results obtained are suggested.     

Strain-stress relation in macromolecular microsphere composite hydrogel

This paper investigates the strain-stress relation for the macromolecular microsphere composite (MMC) hydrogel. The novel point is to present the strain-stress model, which is based on the microscopic mixed entropy set up in the previous work and the Flory-Rehner elastic energy. Then, the numerical result of the strain-stress model is shown, which is completely consistent with the chemical experiment. Moreover, the theoretical relation of the strain-stress depends on the microscopic parameters of the MMC hydrogel. Therefore, it is a way to investigate the relation of macroscopic properties and microscopic structures of soft matters. This approach can be extended to other soft matters.     

Computational studies on high-stiffness,high-damping SiC–InSn particulate reinforced composites

With the objective of achieving composite material systems that feature high stiffness and high mechanical damping, consideration is given here to unit cell analysis of particulate composites with high volume fraction of inclusions. Effective elastic properties of the composite are computed with computational homogenization based on unit cell analysis. The correspondence principle together with the viscoelastic properties of the indium–tin eutectic matrix are then used to compute the effective viscoelastic properties of the composite. Comparison is made with parallel experiments upon composites with an indium–tin eutectic matrix and high volume fractions of silicon-carbide reinforcement. The analytical techniques indicate that combinations of relatively high stiffness and high damping can be achieved in particulate composites with high SiC volume fractions. Based on analysis, the tradeoffs between stiffness and damping characteristics are assessed by changing the volume fraction, size, packing, and gradation of the particulate reinforcement phases. Practical considerations associated with realization of such composites based on the surface energy between the SiC and the InSn are discussed.     

Effective Elastic Properties of Laminated Composite Materials with Interfacial Defects

International Applied Mechanics - The problem of effective elastic properties of stochastic laminated composite is solved. The imperfect interface conditions between the reinforcement and the...     

Determination and analysis of the effective relaxation properties of a composite with viscoelastic components

The relaxation properties of a two-component material are determined depending on time, volume fraction, and type of reinforcement, and the relationship among them. The type of reinforcement is determined by the aspect ratio of the ellipsoid of revolution that models the inclusion. The effective moduli of the composite are determined from the relaxation properties of the components. It is assumed that the composite components are made of isotropic viscoelastic materials with volume expansion and shear characteristics described by two Rabotnov’s fractional-exponential functions with different orders of fractionality. To obtain the solution in the time domain, its fractional rational representation in the frequency domain is used. Optimizing the parameters of this representation and transforming the parameters of the solution to the time domain make it possible to obtain solutions in compact form in terms of relaxation kernels     

The effects of casting speed on steel continuous casting process

A three dimensional simulation of molten steel flow, heat transfer and solidification in mold and “secondary cooling zone” of Continuous Casting machine was performed with consideration of standard k−ε model. For this purpose, computational fluid dynamics software, FLUENT was utilized. From the simulation standpoint, the main distinction between this work and preceding ones is that, the phase change process (solidification) and flow (turbulent in mold section and laminar in secondary cooling zone) have been coupled and solved jointly instead of dividing it into “transient heat conduction” and “steady fluid flow” that can lead to more realistic simulation. Determining the appropriate boundary conditions in secondary cooling zone is very complicated because of various forms of heat transfer involved, including natural and forced convection and simultaneous radiation heat transfer. The main objective of this work is to have better understanding of heat transfer and solidification in the continuous casting process. Also, effects of casting speed on heat flux and shell thickness and role of radiation in total heat transfer is discussed.     

Modeling of anisotropic polydispersed composites by progressive micromechanical approach

A progressive micromechanical method is presented in order to predict the elastic constants of polydispersed composites including multi-directional or randomly oriented reinforcement particles. Heterogeneities of various types are introduced into the matrices in a gradual manner. At each step, the Mori-Tanaka method is used to obtain the stiffness tensor of the intermediate medium used as a matrix of the following step. The proposed method is capable of introducing any kind of heterogeneities based on their dimensions, orientations, mechanical properties, and volume fractions to the matrix. Furthermore, suitable probability density functions can be defined for physical and structural parameters of the composite, including the level of the filler-matrix interfacial bonding, the aspect ratio, and the orientation of reinforcement particles. The efficiency of the iterative approach and the convergence of the solution are studied by computing the stiffness tensors of unidirectional and bidirectional particulate composites. The results of the present study are also compared with the literature data for a randomly oriented particulate composite.