Title: Characterisation of fractured particulate reinforced composite

Authors: Waleed K. Ahmed; Hong Teng

Addresses: ERU, College of Engineering, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, P.O. Box 15551, AD, UAE ' General Engineering Department, University of Wisconsin-Platteville, Platteville, WI 53818, USA

Abstract: The objective of this analysis is to predict the effective stiffness of a particulate-reinforced composite through finite element method (FEM) as a powerful tool. Basically, the investigation covers the assessment of two specific cases. In the first case, a perfect particulate reinforcement is considered, where the particles are considered as fully intact. In the second case, the particles are proposed to be fully fractured. Linear elastic, two-dimensional (2D) finite element analysis (FEA) is adopted in the analysis. The particle's stiffness is considered as a substantial parameter in the analysis. Moreover, various particle volume fractions are taken into account to discover their influence on the effective Young's modulus for the studied cases. The results are compared with analogous three-dimensional (3D) results for particulate composites and discussed.

Keywords: characterisation; fractured particles; FEA; finite element analysis; particle stiffness; particulate reinforced composites; particle volume fractions; Young's modulus.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMMP.2014.066563

International Journal of Microstructure and Materials Properties, 2014 Vol.9 No.2, pp.160 - 175

Published online: 30 Apr 2015 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article