Fracture behavior of Ti/Al3Ti metal-intermetallic laminate (MIL) composite under dynamic loading

Ti/Al3Ti metal-intermetallic laminate (MIL) composite is fabricated using Ti and Al foils through the vacuum sintering process. The fracture behavior of the MIL laminate composite under dynamic loading is investigated via modified Hopkinson bar loaded three-point bending fracture test. An experimental-numerical hybrid method is used to simulate the fracture behavior of MIL composite. In this method, the brittle damage model and plastic kinematic model are employed to represent the dynamic responses of the brittle intermetallic matrix Al3Ti and ductile reinforcement of Ti, respectively. As the boundary condition, displacement data obtained from dynamic three-point bending fracture test are imported into the finite element software package for simulation. Finite element model is validated through the comparison of the load-displacement curves from numerical simulation and the Hopkinson bar loaded three-point bending test. In addition, the dynamic damage evolution behaviors of the laminate composite, including crack deflection, delamination, plastic deformation, and brittle fracture are investigated using the post-process technique of finite element software package. The current study demonstrates that the MIL composite has excellent damage tolerance due to the multiple energy-absorbing mechanisms. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.