Models for Inelastic Deformation of Particles Associated With Hot Pressing of Metal Matrix Composites

Abstract

During fabrication of fiber reinforced metal-matrix composites by hot pressing, fiber breakage due to particles impingement during consolidation of fiber/particle system is very common. In studying the fiber breakage, one of the main issues is the interactions between fibers and particles during consolidation. In this study, we proposed to investigate the problem of fiber/particle interactions by examining a unit problem consisting of a deformable particle and a cylinder. A rather engineering model for axisymmetric deformation of a particle induced by a rigid sphere was developed first and then extended to the interactions between a deformable particle and a rigid cylinder. The calculations were compared with experiments on lead balls, good agreement was observed. The model was then applied to determining the maximum bending stress in fibers using the simple beam theory. A safe criterion for preventing fibers from breaking was found.