The Influence of an Heterogeneous Dispersion on the Failure Behaviour of Metal-Matrix Composites: Micromechanical Approach

We use an homogenisation method in order to predict the failure behaviour of metal-matrix composites. The main damage mechanism is particle failure. We study the influence of an heterogeneous dispersion of the reinforcement on the damage development and the failure strain of composites which contain locally a higher volume fraction of reinforcement. We compare experimental and theoretical results.