Multi-Scale Study on the Fracture Behavior of Hot Compression B4C/6061Al Composite

B4C/Al composites possess excellent physical and mechanical properties, especially the capacity of neutron absorption, and therefore are increasingly used in nuclear industry for storage and transportation of spent fuels. However, very little study has reported the fracture behavior of B4C/Al composite under hot compression. Therefore, at the present work, the hot compression fracture behavior of B4C/6061Al composite was studied by combining experimental and simulation methods, and the fracture model and damage parameters were determined. A unidirectional multi-scale finite element model was established to analyze the meso damage mechanism of B4C/6061Al composite. The results show that the shear damage model cannot predict the fracture behavior of B4C/6061Al composite because of the inhomogeneous microstructure, and the GTN damage model can accurately predict the hot compression fracture behavior of B4C/6061Al composite. At the same time, by comparing with the experimental results, the GTN damage parameters of 31% B4C/6061Al composite were determined, and then by applying the damage parameters, the calculated crack depth and load-displacement curves agree well with the experimental results. In addition, the micro-damage mechanism of B4C/6061Al composite during hot compression process was analyzed accurately with the unidirectional multi-scale finite element method, which was caused by brittle fracture of particles, debonding between matrix and interface, and ductile damage of matrix.