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Acta Metall Sin  2025, Vol. 61 Issue (9): 1387-1402    DOI: 10.11900/0412.1961.2023.00469
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Tensile and Fracture Behaviors of Stitched Twill Carbon Fabric Structure Reinforced Aluminum Matrix Composites at Elevated Temperature
WU Zhiyong1, SHAO Huifan1, CAI Changchun1, ZENG Min1, WANG Zhenjun1(), WANG Yanli2, CHEN Lei2, XIONG Bowen1
1 School of Aeronautical Manufacturing Engineering, Nanchang Hangkong University, Nanchang 330063, China
2 AVIC Jiangxi Hongdu Aviation Industry Group Co. Ltd., Nanchang 330096, China
Cite this article: 

WU Zhiyong, SHAO Huifan, CAI Changchun, ZENG Min, WANG Zhenjun, WANG Yanli, CHEN Lei, XIONG Bowen. Tensile and Fracture Behaviors of Stitched Twill Carbon Fabric Structure Reinforced Aluminum Matrix Composites at Elevated Temperature. Acta Metall Sin, 2025, 61(9): 1387-1402.

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Abstract  

Three-dimensional fabric-reinforced aluminum matrix composites with high specific strength and modulus, excellent high-temperature resistance, and impact resistance are ideal structural materials for fabricating heat-resistant components in aeronautics and aerospace engineering. However, few studies have explored the mechanical properties and fracture behaviors of these composites in high-temperature environments. This study aims to investigate the quasi-static tensile behaviors and failure mechanisms of a stitched twill carbon fabric-reinforced aluminum matrix composite at an elevated temperature of 400 oC. Based on the fabric structure and yarn microstructure, a mesoscle finite element model was established using representative unit cells at the microsale and mesoscale. The macroscopic mechanical response, damage evolution, and failure mechanism of the composite during the tensile test at an elevated temperature (400 oC) were analyzed through numerical simulations and experiments. Results show that the tested tensile modulus, strength, and fracture strain at 400 oC are 103.20 GPa, 621.60 MPa, and 0.819%, respectively. The calculated tensile stress-strain curve aligns with the experimental curves obtained from high-temperature tensile tests. The composites experience complex thermal stress at elevated temperatures, with the matrix pocket under compressive stress and the yarn structure under tensile stress. In the initial tensile stage, the matrix between interlaced weft/warp yarns is damaged, and local failure zones appear in the stitch and warp yarns; however, the composite exhibits a linear elastic response. As the tensile load increases, the degree of damage in the matrix pocket gradually increases, leading to the emergence of serious matrix damage zones and weft yarn cracking along the twill direction of the fabric. Consequently, the growth rate of tensile stress in the tensile curve declines with increasing tensile strain. In the final stage, the matrix failure zone and yarn fracture zone overlap. The axial fracture of warp yarn, in particular, leads to catastrophic fracture of the composite, resulting in a dramatic drop of the tensile stress. The stitch and weft yarns in the composites exhibit a flat fracture morphology, whereas the fractured warp yarn presents rugged fracture surfaces. A mass of fiber pull-out is observed on the microscopic fracture surface of a warp yarn, accompanied by matrix alloy tearing characteristics.

Key words:  stitched twill carbon fabric structure      aluminum matrix composites      micromechanics      damage evolution      high temperature mechanical property      failure mechanism     
Received:  01 December 2023     
ZTFLH:  TG335.85  
Fund: National Natural Science Foundation of China(52165018);Jiangxi Provincial Program for Cultivating Academic and Technical Leaders in Key Disciplines(20225BCJ22002)
Corresponding Authors:  WANG Zhenjun, professor, Tel: 18970951974, E-mail: wangzhj@nchu.edu.cn

URL: 

https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/10.11900/0412.1961.2023.00469     OR     https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/Y2025/V61/I9/1387

Fig.1  Schematic (a) and surface morphology (b) of stitched twill carbon fabric, and surface morphology of aluminum matrix composites (c)
Fig.2  Schematics of dimensions of aluminum matrix composites (a) and aluminum alloy (b) specimens for tensile test at elevated temperature (unit: mm)
Fig.3  Cross-sectional OM images (a-c) and SEM image (d) of yarns in the aluminum matrix composites
(a) warp yarns (b) weft yarns (c) stitch yarns (d) microstructure of warp yarns
Fig.4  Schematics of modeling process of the aluminum matrix composites mesoscale structure
(a) yarn section (unit: mm) (b) yarn arrangement (c) mesoscale structure modeling
Fig.5  Mesoscale representative volume element (RVE) model (a), discretized RVE model (b), and periodic boundary conditions (c) of the aluminum matrix composites
Fig.6  Tensile engineering stress-strain curves of the matrix aluminum alloys at different temperatures
Temperature / oCEm / GPaε¯0pl / %ε¯fpl / %α / (10-6 K-1)[34]
2570.480.271.222.7
10045.650.431.525.4
20033.140.742.026.5
30024.222.203.227.8
40012.893.204.529.9
Table 1  Elastic-plastic mechanical property parameters and thermal expansion coefficients[34] of the matrix aluminum alloy
Fig.7  Arrangement schematic (a), microscale RVE model (unit: μm) (b), and discretized RVE model (c) of hcp fiber
ParameterSymbolValueUnitRef.
Axial tensile strengthXtf4400MPa[41]
Axial compressive strengthXcf2250MPa[33]
Axial shear strengthS12f340MPa[33]
Axial elastic modulusE11f377GPa[41]
Axial shear modulusG12f8.9GPa[39]
Axial Poisson's ratioν12f0.26[33]
Axial thermal expansion coefficientα11f-0.8310-6 K-1[39]
Transverse tensile strengthYtf175MPa[40]
Transverse compressive strengthYcf590MPa[40]
Transverse shear strengthS23f240MPa[40]
Transverse elastic modulusE22f19GPa[39]
Transverse shear modulusG23f7.3GPa[40]
Transverse Poisson's ratioν23f0.3[33]
Transverse thermal expansion coefficientα22f8.010-6 K-1[39]
Table 2  Elastic constants, ultimate strengths, and thermal expansion coefficients of fiber[33,39-41]
Fig.8  Predicted high-temperature (400 oC) mechanical behavior of the yarns under different loads based on the microscale RVE finite element model
ParameterSymbolValueUnit
Axial tensile modulusE11t262.8GPa
Axial compression modulusE11c259.4GPa
Axial shear modulusG12s8.9GPa
Transverse tensile modulusE22t19.8GPa
Transverse compression modulusE22c20.3GPa
Transverse shear modulusG23s7.2GPa
Axial tensile strengthX11t3027.1MPa
Axial compression strengthX11c1577.4MPa
Axial shear strengthX12s39.9MPa
Transverse tensile strengthX22t83.6MPa
Transverse compression strengthX22c86.1MPa
Transverse shear strengthX23s38.9MPa
Table 3  High-temperature elastic constants and ultimate strengths of the yarn
Temperature / oCα11 / (10-6 K-1)α22 / (10-6 K-1)E11 / GPaE22 / GPaG12 / GPaG23 / GPaν12ν23
253.119.94283.2823.9811.039.340.280.41
1003.0310.28282.1123.5010.898.91
2002.9410.39275.9922.8010.548.68
3002.8210.53269.9622.199.698.06
4002.6810.78268.1121.869.427.86
Table 4  Linear thermal expansion coefficients and elastic constants of the yarns at different temperatures
Fig.9  Schematics of local material coordinate of yarns in the mesoscale RVE model (arrow 1—axial direction of the yarn; arrows 2 and 3—transverse directions of the yarn)
(a) warp yarn
(b) weft yarn
(c) stitch yarn
Fig.10  Thermal residual stress distributions in the aluminum matrix composites at 400 oC
(a) matrix pocket (b) yarn structure
Fig.11  Tensile stress-strain curves obtained from the tensile tests and predicted by the mesoscale finite element simulation at 400 oC (ε—strain)

Data type

Elastic

modulus

GPa

Ultimate

strength

MPa

Elongation

%

Calculation error / %7.171.943.79
Experimental value103.20621.600.819
Numerical value110.60633.640.850
Table 5  High-temperature tensile properties obtained from the experiment and simulation
Fig.12  Local damage and failure state of the component structures at the tensile strain of 0.2009% (SDEG—damage factor of the matrix pocket, FV1—failure index of the yarns)
(a) matrix pocket (b) warp yarns (c) weft yarns (d) stitch yarns
Fig.13  Local damage and failure state of the component structures at the tensile strain of 0.6185%
(a) matrix pocket (b) warp/weft yarns (c) stitch yarns
Fig.14  Local damage and failure state of the component structures at the tensile strain of 0.8504%
(a) matrix pocket (b) warp/weft yarns (c) stitch yarns
Fig.15  Low (a) and high (b-e) magnified tensile fracture morphologies of the aluminum matrix composites at 400 oC
(a-c) fracture morphologies of yarn structure
(d) fracture morphology of warp yarn
(e) fiber pull out and matrix tearing in warp yarn
Fig.16  Failure modes of the yarn structures after the high-temperature tensile fracture (SDV1—axial failure index, SDV2—width directional failure index, SDV3—thickness directional failure index. 1 represents principal axis, 2 and 3 represent two transverse dimensions)
(a) axial failure state of the warp yarns
(b) thickness directional failure state of the warp yarns
(c) width directional failure state of the weft yarns
(d) width directional failure state of the stitch yarns
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