The effect of the irregular interface geometry in deformation and fracture of a steel substrate–boride coating composite

Presented in this paper is a computational analysis of the mechanisms involved in plastic deformation and fracture of a composite with coating under compressive and tensile loading. Using a steel specimen surface-hardened by diffusion borating, a role of the irregular geometry of the interface between the base material and hardened surface layer is investigated. In order to describe the mechanical behavior of the steel substrate and brittle coating, use is made of a plastic flow model including isotropic strain hardening and a fracture model, respectively. Using the Huber fracture criterion, the model takes into account the difference in the critical strength values for different types of local compressive and tensile states. It is shown that the irregular, serrated shape of the substrate–coating interface retards propagation of a longitudinal crack into this coating and prevents it from spalling under external compression of this composite. It is found out that even in the case of a simple uniaxial compression of the mesovolumes of this composite the boride “teeth” are subjected to tensile stresses, whose values are comparable with those of the external compressive load, and the direction of crack propagation and the general fracture behavior largely depend on the external loading conditions.