On the Elastic Field of Al/SiC Nanocomposite

This study aims to analyze the linear elastic behavior of an aluminum matrix nanocomposite reinforced with SiC nanoparticles. Once, a representative volume element was considered for the nanocomposite with a cuboidal inclusion. The elastic moduli of the matrix and the inclusion were the same, but it contained eigenstrain. The stress and the strain fields were obtained for the inclusion and the aluminum by Galerkin vector method. The stress and the strain fields in the inclusion problem were in a good agreement with the results in the literature. A similar representative volume element was considered for the nanocomposite with a cuboidal inhomogeneity. The elastic moduli of the matrix and the inhomogeneity were different, but it did not have any eigenstrain. For the calculation of the Eshelby tensor and the elastic fields for the inhomogeneity problem, the equivalent inclusion method (EIM) was applied. In the EIM, the uniform and equivalent eigenstrain were considered. The stress and the strain fields within the inhomogeneity and the matrix were obtained. Results showed that the stress and the strain in the cuboidal inclusion were less than the cuboidal inhomogeneity due to the difference between the matrix and the reinforcement materials.