In situ measurement of reinforcement stress in an aluminum–alumina metal matrix composite under compressive loading

The phenomena of stress partitioning between the matrix and the reinforcements in a loaded metal matrix composite dominate the mechanical behavior of these materials. Numerical models for estimating the stress in the matrix and the reinforcement under load are well developed. However, direct experimental measurements (e.g. measurement of reinforcement stress) are more difficult and have not been widely undertaken at present. The objective of the present work was to measure in situ the hydrostatic stress in the ceramic reinforcements in a continuously reinforced metal matrix composite loaded under transverse compression (i.e. loading perpendicular to the fiber axis). A single crystal sapphire reinforced AA6061 matrix model composite (reinforcement volume fraction ∼10%) was used for the measurements, which were undertaken at applied strains of 5, 10 and 20%. The stress measurements utilized the piezo-spectroscopic property of the Cr3+ ions which were present as impurities in the sapphire reinforcements. The compressive deformation of the composite was simulated using an isotropic, plane strain finite element model. The reinforcement hydrostatic stress estimates from the isotropic FEM model were suitably modified to incorporate the effects of anisotropy in properties of the sapphire single crystal. The mean values of the experimental measurements of reinforcement hydrostatic stress matched well with the numerical estimates.