Evaluation of thermo-mechanical behavior and stress intensity factor of titania-filled zinc–aluminium alloy composites

Abstract

Experimental investigation and finite element analysis model has been developed to study the physical, mechanical, thermal and thermo-mechanical behavior of titania (TiO₂) (0, 4, 8 and 12 wt%) filled zinc–aluminium (ZA-27) alloy composite materials fabricated by stir casting techniques. The experimental thermal conductivity are measured and compared with both theoretical and finite element analysis model results. The error between experimental-Hasselman & Johnson model and experimental-finite element simulation for 4 wt% of TiO₂-filled composite is 2.43% and 0.81% while for 8 wt% of TiO₂-filled composite is 2.60% and 1.73% and for 12 wt% of TiO₂-filled composite is 11% and 1.9% respectively in longitudinal direction. Similarly, in transverse direction the error lies between experimental-Hamilton & Crosser model and experimental-finite elemet simulation for 4 wt% of TiO₂-filled composite is 2.62%, 3.19%, while for 8 wt% of TiO₂-filled composite is 1.42%, 1.45% and for 12 wt% of TiO₂-filled composite is 5.76% and 3.64%, respectively. The thermo-mechanical characteristics of the particulate-filled alloy composites are investigated in the temperature range of 80–400 ℃ with the single cantilever technique using dynamic mechanical analyzer. The composites with 12 wt% of TiO₂ filled has been observed to exhibit superior thermo-mechanical response with highest energy dissipation/damping ability accompanied with a constant storage modulus without any substantial decay till 125 ℃. Finally, the stress intensity factor for all the particulate-filled composites is studied experimentally and compared with finite element method results. The results obtained from this analysis facilitate to understand the fracture propagation in the composites.