Three dimensional (3D) microstructure-based finite element modeling of Al-SiC nanolaminates using focused ion beam (FIB) tomography

Journal Article · Sat Oct 15 04:00:00 EDT 2016 · Materials Characterization

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/J.MATCHAR.2016.09.023· OSTI ID:22689643

Mayer, Carl R. ^[1]; Molina-Aladareguia, Jon ^[2]; Chawla, Nikhilesh ^[1]

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1. Materials Science and Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-6106 (United States)
2. IMDEA Materials Institute, c/Eric Kandel 2, Getafe, Madrid 28906 (Spain)

Al-SiC nanolaminate composites show promise as high performance coating materials due to their combination of strength and toughness. Although a significant amount of modeling effort has been focused on materials with an idealized flat nanostructure, experimentally these materials exhibit complex undulating layer geometries. This work utilizes FIB tomography to characterize this nanostructure in 3D and finite element modeling to determine the effect that this complex structure has on the mechanical behavior of these materials. A sufficiently large volume was characterized such that a 1 × 2 μm micropillar could be generated from the dataset and compared directly to experimental results. The mechanical response from this nanostructure was then compared to pillar models using simplified structures with perfectly flat layers, layers with sinusoidal waviness, and layers with arc segment waviness. The arc segment based layer geometry showed the best agreement with the experimentally determined structure, indicating it would be the most appropriate geometry for future modeling efforts. - Highlights: •FIB tomography was used to determine the structure of an Al-SiC nanolaminate in 3D. •FEM was used to compare the deformation of the nanostructure to experimental results. •Idealized structures from literature were compared to the FIB determined structure. •Arc segment based structures approximated the FIB determined structure most closely.

• OSTI ID: 22689643
• Journal Information: Materials Characterization, Journal Name: Materials Characterization Vol. 120; ISSN 1044-5803; ISSN MACHEX
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
COATINGS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
COMPRESSION
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
COMPUTERIZED TOMOGRAPHY
DATASETS
DEFORMATION
FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
GEOMETRY
ION BEAMS
LAYERS
MICROSTRUCTURE
NANOSTRUCTURES
SILICON CARBIDES
THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS