Thermo-mechanical properties prediction of Ni-reinforced Al₂O₃ composites using micro-mechanics based representative...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Mechanical Engineering
• Computational Modeling

Background:

• Effective cutting tool inserts require high thermal conductivity and toughness to withstand thermal shock.
• Optimizing the coefficient of thermal expansion is crucial for performance under varying temperature gradients.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a novel material design framework for nickel (Ni)-reinforced alumina (Al2O3) composites.
• To tailor mechanical and thermal properties for advanced ceramic cutting tools using a multi-scale modeling approach.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a multi-scale modeling approach with representative volume elements (RVEs) generated in DREAM.3D.
• Employed finite element analysis in ABAQUS and computational homogenization methods to predict material properties.
• Validated numerical models through experimental sintering of Al2O3-Ni composites.

Main Results:

• Numerical predictions showed good agreement with experimentally measured thermal and structural properties.
• The ABAQUS, SwiftComp, and Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) methods yielded comparable results.
• Increased porosity decreased mechanical properties and thermal conductivity, while thermal expansion remained unaffected.

Conclusions:

• The integrated modeling and empirical approach facilitates the development of Al2O3-metal composites for ceramic cutting inserts.
• The proposed framework enables precise tailoring of thermal and mechanical properties for specific applications.