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ASTM Selected Technical Papers
Fatigue of Composite Materials
By
JR Hancock
JR Hancock
1
symposium chairman
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ISBN-10:
0-8031-0346-8
ISBN:
978-0-8031-0346-7
No. of Pages:
342
Publisher:
ASTM International
Publication date:
1975

Simple mechanical models of unidirectional metal matrix composites are used to analyze elastoplastic deformation and shakedown in the matrix under cyclic composite loads. Both axial and off-axis loadings of a lamina are considered. It is shown that the fatigue limits of as-fabricated boron-aluminum, beryllium-aluminum, tungsten-copper, and other composites generally coincide with the composite shakedown limits because the matrix yield stresses and fatigue limits are equal.

In heat-treated composites, the matrix yield stress is usually much higher than the fatigue limit, and matrix fatigue failure can take place in the shakedown state. The residual microstresses caused by heat treatment are estimated, and their influence on fatigue is discussed. A method for improvement of the fatigue resistance of heat-treated composites is discussed.

The theoretical predictions of fatigue limits are verified by an extensive comparison with available experiments, and a very good agreement is obtained. It is concluded that, in principle, the composite fatigue failure can be avoided if each of the constituents is stressed within its particular fatigue limits during a cyclic loading program of the composite.

1.
Salkind
,
M. J.
, in
Composite Materials: Testing and Design (Second Conference), ASTM STP 497
,
American Society for Testing and Materials
,
1972
, pp. 143–169.
2.
Dvorak
,
G. J.
,
Rao
,
M. S. M.
, and
Tarn
,
J. Q.
,
Journal of Composite Materials
 0021-9983, Vol.
7
,
04
1973
, pp. 194–216.
3.
Dvorak
,
G. J.
,
Rao
,
M. S. M.
, and
Tarn
,
J. Q.
,
Journal of Applied Mechanics
 0021-8936, Vol.
41
,
03
1974
, pp. 249–253.
4.
Tarn
,
J. Q.
,
Dvorak
,
G. J.
, and
Rao
,
M. S. M.
, “
Shakedown of Unidirectional Composites
,”
International Journal of Solids and Structures
 0020-7683 to be published.
5.
Kelly
,
A.
and
Davies
,
G. J.
,
Metallurgical Reviews
 0076-6690, Vol.
10
, No.
37
,
1965
, pp. 1–77.
6.
Kelly
,
A.
and
Bomford
,
M. J.
,
Physics of Strength and Plasticity
,
Argon
A. S.
, Ed.
Massachussetts Institute of Technology Press
,
Cambridge, Mass.
,
1969
, pp. 339–350.
7.
Baker
,
A. A.
and
Cratchley
,
D.
,
Applied Materials Research
 0570-4847, Vol.
3
, No.
4
,
1964
, pp. 215–222.
8.
Hancock
,
J. R.
Proceedings
, Air Force Conference on Fatigue and Fracture of Aircraft Structures and Materials, Technical Report AFFOL TR-70-144, Air Force Flight Dynamics Laboratory,
Dayton, Ohio
,
1970
, pp. 285–300.
9.
Hancock
,
J. R.
,
Composite Materials: Testing and Design (Second Conference), ASTM STP 497
,
American Society for Testing and Materials
,
1972
, pp. 483–502.
10.
Hancock
,
J. R.
, “
Fatigue of Boron-Aluminum Composites
,”
Midwest Research Institute Preprint, Midwest Research Institute
, Kansas City, Mo.,
07
1972
.
11.
Schuerch
,
H.
,
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Journal
, Vol.
4
,
1966
, p. 102.
12.
Aluminum
, Vol.
1
,
Van Horn
,
K. R.
, Ed.
American Society for Metals
,
Metals Park, Ohio
,
1967
.
13.
Toy
,
A.
,
Journal of Materials
 0022-2453, Vol.
3
, No.
1
,
03
1962
, pp. 43–58.
14.
Morris
,
A. W. H.
and
Steigerwald
,
E. A.
,
Metallurgical Transactions
 0026-086X, American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Vol.
239
,
05
1967
, pp. 730–739.
15.
Ham
,
R. K.
and
Place
,
T. A.
,
Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids
 0022-5096, Vol.
14
,
1966
, pp. 271–280.
16.
Varschavsky
,
A.
and
Tamayo
,
P.
,
Journal of Materials Science
 0022-2461, Vol.
4
,
1969
, pp. 653–657.
17.
Aerospace Structural Metals Handbook
, Vol.
2
, 3rd revision,
Syracuse University Press
,
Syracuse, N. Y.
,
03
1966
.
18.
OFHC Brand Copper, Technical Survey,
The American Metal Company, Ltd.
,
1959
, p. 122.
19.
Shimizu
,
H.
and
Dolowy
,
J. F.
, Jr.
, in
Composite Materials: Testing and Design, ASTM STP 460
,
American Society for Testing and Materials
,
1969
, pp. 192–202.
20.
Metals Handbook
, Vol.
1
,
American Society for Metals
,
Metals Park, Ohio
,
1961
.
21.
Toth
,
I. J.
, in
Composite Materials: Testing and Design, ASTM STP 460
,
American Society for Testing and Materials
,
1969
, pp. 236–253.
22.
Menke
,
G. D.
and
Toth
,
I. J.
, “
The Time Dependent Mechanical Behavior of Composite Materials
,” Technical Report AFML-TR-70-174,
Air Force Materials Laboratory
, Dayton, Ohio,
1970
.
23.
Hancock
,
J. R.
, “
The Initiation and Growth of Fatigue Cracks in Filament-Reinforced Aluminum Alloys
,” Technical Report No. 1, Contract No. N00014-70-C-0212, NR 031-743,
Midwest Research Institute
, Kansas City, Mo.,
03
1971
.
24.
Swanson
,
G. D.
and
Hancock
,
J. R.
, in
Composite Materials: Testing and Design (Second Conference), ASTM STP 497
,
American Society for Testing and Materials
,
1972
, pp. 469–482.
25.
Hancock
,
J. R.
, “
Fatigue of Metal Matrix Composites
,”
Fatigue and Fracture of Composites
, Chapter 6, to be published by
Academic Press
.
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