Effect of reinforcement morphology on deformation behavior of particle reinforced metal matrix composites in laser forming

In this paper, the effect of reinforcement morphology on deformation behavior of the Al6092/SiCp metal matrix composite in laser forming was examined by a microstructure integrated finite element method. With the assumptions that the reinforcement performs elastically in the elasto-plastic matrix and the interface between them is perfect, a simple cubic cell (SCC) model was developed to investigate the effect of reinforcement morphology on the temperature dependent thermo-mechanical properties of the composite including thermal conductivity, coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and mechanical properties for different reinforcement shapes (spherical, cubic and cylindrical) and aspect ratios. Based on the predicted properties, the deformation behavior of the composite in laser forming was examined. It was found that the numerical results with unity aspect ratio were in good agreement with the published experimental data. The influence of aspect ratio of rectangular reinforcement was also examined and discussed in the paper.