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In the present work, the influence of stress concentration and deformation temperature on the mechanical behavior of boron carbide particles reinforced aluminum matrix (B4Cp/Al) composites fabricated by powder metallurgy was investigated via the tensile test and finite element simulation based on the real microstructure. The results demonstrate that a uniform particle distribution and a good interface bonding between the particles and matrix are found in the 5 wt% B4Cp/6061Al composite. When the deformation temperature decreases from 298 to 77 K, the tensile property and notch sensitivity ratio of the notched composite increases. Combined with the microstructure observation and stress/strain evolution, the fracture mechanism of the notched composite at 77 K was revealed. Specifically, there is a difference in stress and strain distributions induced by deformation temperature in the initial stage of deformation of the notched composite. The matrix damage tends to occur from the notch and propagate to the high strain regions near the particles. Furthermore, there is a high possibility of particle fracture or interface debonding in the notched composite due to the high matrix stress at 77 K. This work provides the experimental and theoretical basis for the application of particle-reinforced aluminum matrix composites with stress concentration under cryogenic environments.

In this study, the effects of strain rate and thermal exposure time on the mechanical properties of an annealed B 4 C particle-reinforced 6061Al matrix composite at various elevated temperatures were investigated, and the failure mechanism caused by the tensile temperature and strain rate was elucidated. At constant tensile temperature, an increase in the strain rate from 10−3 to 10−1 s−1 resulted in an increase in the ultimate tensile strength and a decrease in the ductility of the annealed composite. For the same strain rate, when the tensile temperature increased from 373 to 573 K, the ultimate tensile strength of the annealed composite decreased, although the ductility increased. With increasing thermal exposure time, the composite possessed good thermal stability, which was due to reduced dislocation density in the composite because of the annealing treatment. Regardless of the tensile temperature and strain rate, the fracture mechanism of the composite at elevated temperatures included matrix ductile fracture and a small amount of interface debonding between the B 4 C particles and matrix. This study offers a reference for the service safety of B 4 Cp/Al composites with structural and functional characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]