Cyclic Fatigue Fracture Behavior of Spray-Deposited SiCp/Al-Si Composite

The cyclic fatigue characteristics of spray-deposited SiCp/Al-Si composite were investigated in comparison with the unreinforced Al-Si alloy. The as-extruded specimens were cyclically deformed with fully reversed loading under a range of total strain amplitudes. The results show that the cyclic response characteristics for the reinforced and unreinforced materials are similar to each other. Both the composite and matrix alloys display cyclic hardening under total strain amplitude of 0.35-0.5%. Otherwise, the composite exhibits higher degree of strain hardening than that of the matrix alloy. Dislocation substructure developed during cyclic deformation was analyzed using transmission electron microscopy. The discrepancy between dislocation substructures obtained from processing compared to its development during cyclic strain loading is thought to give rise to the observed cyclic stress response behavior. Fractographic analysis shows that particle/matrix debonding and particle cracking are the main mechanisms of failure in the SiC particle-reinforced composite.