An Unified Micromechanical Approach toward Thermomechanical Tailoring of Metal Matrix Composites
Kenji Wakashima, Hideaki Tsukamoto
pp. 883-892
Abstract
This overview article addresses a unified micromechanical approach to the analysis of overall thermomechanical behavior of metal matrix composites. Emphasis is on their behavior beyond the linear elastic regime. First, the mean-field model for a heterogeneous medium with misfitting ellipsoidal inhomogeneities, on which the present approach is based, is briefly described. Then, the general formulas for estimating the effective values of material properties, including elastic constants, coefficients of thermal expansion, heat capacities and thermal conductivities, are given with some explicit expressions derived for simple binary systems. The remainder of this article highlights an analysis of post-yield inelastic behavior. On the assumption that a quasi-homogeneous plastic strain is induced over the entire matrix, a numerical analysis procedure based on energy principles is formulated for solving general multiaxial elastoplasticity problems. It is also shown that the simple case of axisymmetric triaxial loading can be treated by an alternative method using the yield condition expressed in terms of the matrix mean stress.