Evaluation of interfacial shear properties of metal matrix composites from fibre push-out tests

Fibre push-out test is commonly used to characterize the fibre-matrix interfacial behaviour. In the case of metallic and intermetallic matrix composites (MMCs and IMCs),the presence of high levels of thermal residual stresses, very small thickness of the specimens and ductility of the matrix material make the interpretation of the test results difficult.In this paper, single fibre push-out test is studied using finite element methods, with the objective of extracting interfacial properties from the experimental test results. The fibre-matrix interface is modelled using a contact-friction formulation, and debonding of the interface is predicted using a failure criterion based on the local stressstate at the interface. Load versus displacement behaviour of the push-out tests is numerically simulated as a function of different interfacial strengths. The data is then used to generate a calibration curve to predict the actual interfacial properties for a given experimentally measured peak push-out load. SiC/Ti-15-3 MMC is used as the model materialfor the evaluation of interfacial shear properties at different temperatures.