INTERFACIAL MICROFRACTURE IN HIGH-TEMPERATURE METAL-MATRIX COMPOSITES

Two computational simulation approaches developed at NASA-Lewis Research Center are described for interfacial microfracture and its effect on high temperature metal matrix composites' (HT-MMC) global behavior. The first approach is based upon micromechanics and a nonlinear material behavior model to account for the material nonlinearities arising due to temperature, stress etc. The second approach is based upon a judicious use of three-dimensional finite element analysis. Both of these approaches have been used in the computational simulation of the effects of interfacial properties and microfracture on the high temperature metal matrix composite global behavior. Results presented demonstrate that computational simulation procedures can be effectively used to characterize interface/interphase and its effect on the complex behavior of high temperature metal matrix composites.