Abstract

Metallic glass matrix composites have enormous potential stemming from the interplay between crystalline and amorphous phases. This work models such a composite using shear transformation zone dynamics (a modified kinetic Monte Carlo method) for the amorphous phase, and a local Taylor dislocation model for the crystalline phase. An N-factorial experiment using the model is presented examining the effects of crystalline volume fraction, microstructure length scale, and yield stress of the crystalline phase. Each replicate is analyzed for maximum stress, maximum strain, strain energy dissipation, strain localization, and strain partitioning between phases. Regression analysis is used to identify statistically-significant trends in the data. The experiment shows that strain delocalization and the consequent ductility are facilitated by a crystalline phase with a substantially lower yield stress than that of the amorphous matrix. It also shows that increasing crystalline volume fraction alone is insufficient to promote strain delocalization in the case of a crystalline phase with high relative yield stress, and that a lower yield stress for the crystalline phase implies lower maximum stresses supported by the composite. Therefore designers must balance the need for ductility and delocalization against the composite yield stress by finding an optimal combination of volume fraction and crystalline mechanical properties. This work provides continuous functional forms for the relationships between these properties to aid in that optimization process.

Degree

College and Department

Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology; Mechanical Engineering

Rights

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