Session: 12-16-01: Multiscale Models and Experimental Techniques for Composite Materials and Structures Count

Paper Number: 114083

114083 - The Influence of Microstructure Models on the Mechanical Behavior of Nickel Coated Continuous Carbon Fiber Reinforced Aluminum Metal Matrix Composites 

 

The computational composite materials design has been increasingly important for the development of high-performance composite materials that can provide alternative solutions to the challenges posed by traditional materials in high technology. For this reason, researchers have developed composite materials consisting different constituents like Metal Matrix Composites (MMC), where engineers and the material scientists have combined different constituent materials to form a new product to overcome the limitations posed by traditional materials. In addition, composite materials provide the flexibility to design the microstructure and also vary the proportions of the material constituents of the composite, to meet different specifications and performances

With the increased emphasis on reducing the cost and time to market of new materials, the need for multiscale analysis to capture the effect of the nanostructured additive on the composite matrix is increasingly important. This multiscale modeling approach revolutionizes the ability to create new materials and tailor their specific properties.  In spite of the extensive research work that has been done on aluminum matrix composite, little or no work has been done on multiscale approach that couples their material models at multiple length scales with the impact of size and morphology of the reinforcements on their material properties and the engineering performances.

 The focus of this study was to computationally establish the relationships between material variables of the constituents and the mechanical properties of aluminum matrix composites. These variables include microstructure of the materials phases, the arrangement of the constituents in the composites and the volume fraction of the constituents. Measuring these material variables of the experimentally is challenging and costly. Moreover, experimental data required a significant amount of time to account for different variables that are involved and when available may contain some unquantified errors. Therefore, computational modeling can be used to verify experimental results and conclusions.  However, the computational method often required the modeling and simulation of the micro structural properties of the different possible material phases in aluminum matrix composite.

The microstructural design of composite materials plays a significant role in both computational and manufacturing innovations. The computational modeling provides the opportunity to rapidly access the influence of the constituents in the metal matrix composites (MMC) on the composite performance at a minimum cost. However, the continuum descriptions of mechanical behaviors of metal matrix composite via the atomistic-informed multiscale method are not fully available. A multiscale analysis of nickel coated continuous carbon fiber reinforced aluminum metal matrix composite is presented with different geometries of the microstructure and volume fraction of micro constituents. The methodology involved different length scales ranging from nano to macro scales. In this hierarchical multi-scale modeling technique, the outputs of each lower scale are fed into the next higher scale as input data. Molecular Dynamics modeling was performed at the nano scales and polycrystalline materials model was done at meso scale. The high fidelity generalized method of cells (GMC) micromechanical model was utilized at the macro length scale. The results from these simulations provide an understanding to the link between microstructures, the arrangement and morphology of the reinforcement, the volume fraction of the constituents and the composite performance.

Presenting Author: Olanrewaju Aluko University of Michigan-Flint

Presenting Author Biography: Olanrewaju Aluko earned his BSE and MSE in mechanical engineering from University of Ilorin, Nigeria. He earned his PhD in mechanical engineering from the Howard University. He has also served in faculty positions at Texas A & M University, Kingsville and Michigan Technological University. He has worked in research collaboration with the Michigan Technological University and the National Aeronautic Space Administration. He is currently a professor at University of Michigan-Flint.

Authors:

Olanrewaju Aluko University of Michigan-Flint
Yasser Aboelkassem University of Michigan-Flint