The fatigue damage of a particulate composite under cyclic loading

This study carried out some preliminary experiments on a particulate composite in an effort to elucidate its fatigue behavior under various strain rates. Loads with constant strain rates and sinusoidal cyclic loads were applied to the material. Experimental results show that the material is strain rate sensitive. Both the stiffness and the ultimate strength increase as the strain rate increases. Under cyclic loading, major damages occurred at the first few cycles. After preloaded by a cyclic loading, the stiffness of the particulate composite is reduced substantially but the ultimate strength only suffers a modest reduction.