What are Composites?

A combination of
two or more materials (reinforcement,
resin, filler, etc.), differing in form or
composition
on
a
macroscale.
The
constituents retain their identities, i.e.,
they do not dissolve or merge into each
other, although they act in concert.
Normally,
the
components
can
be
physically identified and exhibit an

Introduction

Metal matrix composites (MMCs) have high

specific strength and specific modulus and have
the potential for high fracture toughness and
environmental resistance. They therefore have
the potential to replace metal alloys in many
applications.

Matrix Reinforcement Interface in MMC

Many properties of metal matrix composites are strongly influenced by the nature of the
matrix reinforcement interface. This in turn depends upon factors such as pretreatment of the
fibres and reinforcement fabrication techniques. The nature of the matrix reinforcement
interface is most commonly studied by electron spectroscopic techniques, which can give
information about the degree of bonding between the matrix and reinforcement, and the
formation of additional phases in the matrix material or at the interface.

It refers to a bounding surface between reinforcement and

matrix across which there occurs a discontinuity in a
parameter such as chemical composition,elastic
modulus,coefficient of thermal expansion and
thermodynamic properties such as chemical
potential.Interface is very important in all composites. In
metal matrix composite,the reinforcement and the matrix
will not be in thermodynamic equilibrium,i.e., there will be
a thermodynamic driving force for an interfacial reaction
that will reduce the energy of the system

 The load acting on the matrix has to be transferred to the

reinforcement via. Interface
The reinforcement must be strongly bonded to the matrix if
high stiffness and strength are desired in the composite
materials
A weak interface results in low stiffness and strength but high
resistance to fracture
A strong interface produces high stiffness and strength but
often low resistance to fracture, i.e. brittle behavior

2 types of failure at interface

Difficult to measure the strength of interface, this is
because sometimes failure occur at interface, and
sometimes not.
2 types of failure at interface
1) Adhesive failure - failure occur at interface
2) Cohesive failure failure occur close to the
interface (either at the fiber or matrix)

For example we have a interfacial zone with a finite thickness

and possibly consisting of multiple layers. The multiple layer boundary
zone will be in equilibrium at the high temperature at which the
components are originally brought together. At any other themperature,
there exists a complex stress field in the boundary zone because of the
mismatch in the coefficient of thermal expansion of the various layers.
These stress will be proportional to the difference in the elastic moduli,
difference in the coefficient of thermal expansion and of course the
amplitude of temperature difference between the equilibrium temperature
and final temperature. Thermodynamically ,the phase in the boundary zone
will tend to change such that the free energy of the system in minimized.

Defects:
Dislocation

Grain Boundary Migration

Crack nucleation

Formation of Crack

An ideal MMCs should promote wetting and

bond the reinforcement and the matrix to a
desirable degree.
The interface should protect the
reinforcement and allow load transfer from
the soft metallic matrix to the strong
reinforcement.

Other parameter that characterize

the interface:
1. Geometry and Dimensions
2. Microstructure
3. Morphology
4. Mechanical properties
5. Physical,chemical and thermal characteristics

Reinforcement Fabrication Techniques

These techniques are also important factors in determining
the nature of the reinforcement-matrix interface.
MMCs are generally fabricated using 3 techniques
1. Solid State
2. Liquid State
3. Vapour state

Solid state fabrication

Powdered metal and discontinuous
reinforcement are mixed and then
bonded through a process of compaction
and thermo-mechanical treatment.
Layer of metal foil are sandwiched with
long fibres,and then pressed through to
form a matrix.

Liquid state
A solution containing metal ions loaded
with reinforcing particles is codoposited forming a composite metal.
Discontinuous reinforcement is stirred
into molten metal, which is allowed to
solidify.

Vapour State
Vapour Deposition:
The fiber is passed
through a thick cloud of vaporized
metal,coating it.

Interfacial bonding
Once the matrix has wet the reinforcement,
bonding will occur.
For a given system, more than one bonding
mechanism may exist at the same time.
The bondings may change during various
production stages or during services.

Types of interfacial bonding at interface

1)
2)
3)
4)

Mechanical bonding
Electrostatic bonding
Chemical bonding
Reaction or interdiffusion bonding

Mechanical bonding
1. Mechanical interlocking or keying of two interfaces
can leads to reasonable bond.
2.The rougher the interface, the interlocking is
Greater, hence the mechanical bonding is effective.

 Mechanical bonding is effective when the

force is applied parallel to the interface.
If the interface is being pulled apart by
tensile forces, the strength is likely to be low
unless there is a high density of features
(designated A).

Electrostatic Bonding

-Occur when one surface is positively charged

and the other is negatively charge.
-Interactions are short range and only effective
over small distances of the order of atomic dimensions.
-Surface contamination and entrapped gases will
decrease the effectiveness of this bonding.

Chemical bonding
The bond formed between chemical groups on the
reinforcement surfaces (marked X) and compatible groups
(marked R) in the matrix.
Strength of chemical bonding depends on the number of
bonds per unit area and the type of bond.

 Chemical bonding normally exist due to the

application of coupling agents.

Reaction or interdiffusion bonding

The atoms or molecules of the two components

may interdiffuse at the interface.

 For system involving metals & ceramics, the interdiffusion of

species from the two components can produce an interfacial
layer of different composition and structure from either of the
component.
The interfacial layers also will have different mechanical
properties from either matrix or reinforcement.
In MMC, the interfacial layer is often a brittle intermetallic
compound.
One of the main reason why interfacial layers are formed is in
ceramic and metal matrices is due to the processing at high
temperature- diffusion is rapid at high temp; according to the
Arrhenius equation).

Methods for measuring bond strength

Single fiber test

Fiber pull-out test
Bulk specimen tests
Micro-indentation test

Single Fibre test

Fiber pull-out test

Fiber pull-out test

Involves pulling a partially embedded single fiber out
of a block of matrix material
Difficult to be carried out especially for thin brittle fiber
From the resulting tensile stress vs. strain plot, the shear
strength of the interface and the energy of debonding and
pull-out may be obtained

Bulk specimen tests

The simplest
method and
most widely
employed

The tensile strength

and shear strength
obtained from the
3-point bending test
are found to
depend on the
volume of fibersnot a true values for
the bond strength

Micro-indentation test
Employs a standard micro-indentation
hardness tester
The indentor is loaded with a force, on to a
center of a fiber, whose axis is normal to the
surface, and caused the fiber to slide along
the matrix-fiber interface

Strength
Difficult to predict the strength
this is due to the sensitivity of strength
towards the matrix and fiber structure
For example, matrix and fiber structure
will be changed during the fabrication
process.

Toughness

Depends on few factors:

1) Composition and microstructure of the matrix
2) Type, size and orientaion of fiber
3) Processing of composite, effect the
microstructure, i.e. voids, distribution of fiber, etc.

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