| Title |
Fracture Toughness Analysis of Cast A356 Al - SiCp Composites |
| Authors |
서동우(Dong Woo Suh); 권동일(Dong Il Kwon); 이성학(Sung Hak Lee) |
| Abstract |
The present study aims at investigating the effects of microstructure on fracture toughness of A356 aluminum matrix composites reinforced with 15 volume percent SiC particulates. These A356 Al SiC_P composites were processed by conventional permanent mold resting and squeeze casting methods, and notch fracture toughness tests were conducted on these two composites in order to identify critical fracture parameters using a critical strain criterion. The composite microstructure was composed of SiC particulates and eutectic Si particles which were mostly segregated at intercellular boundaries. Tensile properties of the squeeze cast composite were superior to those of the re-past composite because of more homogeneous distribution of SiC and eutectic Si particles and elimination of cast defects. Fracture toughness analyses revealed that the improved fracture toughness of the squeeze cast composite, compared to the re-cast composite, was due to the increase in the reference critical strain while intercellular sizes are similar. |