Volume 46, Issue 1 pp. 17-31
ORIGINAL ARTICLE

In situ experimental study on fracture toughness and damage mechanism of TiB2-reinforced steel matrix composites

Ronghua Chen

Ronghua Chen

State Key Laboratory of Advanced Design and Manufacturing for Vehicle Body, College of Mechanical and Vehicle Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, China

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Weipeng Li

Weipeng Li

State Key Laboratory of Advanced Design and Manufacturing for Vehicle Body, College of Mechanical and Vehicle Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, China

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Bochuan Li

Bochuan Li

State Key Laboratory of Advanced Design and Manufacturing for Vehicle Body, College of Mechanical and Vehicle Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, China

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Chao Jiang

Corresponding Author

Chao Jiang

State Key Laboratory of Advanced Design and Manufacturing for Vehicle Body, College of Mechanical and Vehicle Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, China

Correspondence

Chao Jiang, State Key Laboratory of Advanced Design and Manufacturing for Vehicle Body, College of Mechanical and Vehicle Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China.

Email: [email protected]

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First published: 30 September 2022
Citations: 1

Funding information: Fundamental Research Program of China, Grant/Award Number: JCKY2020110C105; Foundation for Innovative Research Groups of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Grant/Award Number: 51621004; National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, Grant/Award Number: 51725502

Abstract

It is crucial to obtain better fracture property of particle-reinforced metal matrix composites (PRMMCs) for application in structural parts. In this study, three-point bending tests are conducted on a TiB2-reinforced steel matrix composites (SMCs) with 9% and 13% TiB2 volume fractions to understand the effect of hot rolling and particle content on fracture toughness. Results show that increasing particle content has a negative effect on the fracture toughness of SCMs as a whole. Many microcracks induced by large-size particle fracture initiate in the front of crack tip and coalesce with one another are observed, thus accelerating the main crack propagation. However, hot rolling can effectively improve the fracture toughness and hardness of SMCs with two particle contents. Particle characteristics and matrix plasticity of the SMCs are optimized by hot rolling, which finally enhances the crack propagation resistance. The present work provides guiding suggestions for effectively improving fracture properties of PRMMCs.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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