Computer simulation of solid-particle erosion of composite materials

Solid-particle erosion is a complex surface damage process, strongly affected by mechanical and metallurgical factors. In this study, the surface damage of composite materials caused by solid-particle erosion was simulated using a dynamic computational model based on Newton's law of motion. In this model, a material system is discretized and mapped onto a discrete lattice. Each lattice site represents a small volume of the target material or the solid particle. During erosion, a lattice site may move under the influence of the impingement between ejected solid particles and the target material as well as the interaction between the site and its adjacent sites. The site-site interaction is a function of mechanical properties of the materials, including the elastic modulus, the yield strength, work hardening and the fracture strain. A bond connecting two adjacent sites is broken when its strain exceeds the fracture strain. A site or a cluster of sites can be worn away if all bonds connecting the site or the cluster to its adjacent sites are broken. Effects of the volume fraction of reinforcing phase and the bonding strength of the reinforcing phase/matrix interface on the erosion behavior of a composite material were investigated. In addition, effects of the impact velocity, the solid-particle size and the size ratio of the solid particle to the reinforcing phase on erosion of the composite were also studied. It was demonstrated that the model was effective for investigating the mechanism responsible for erosion of materials and helpful for establishing the relationship between the microstructure of a material and its wear behavior. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.