Dynamic tensile properties of TiCp/Ti composite

The tensile properties of a titanium alloy reinforced with 3% by volume fraction of TiC particles and of an unreinforced titanium alloy are studied over a range of strain rates from 0.0001s^-1 to 1300s^-1 using quasi-static material testing system (MTS810) and split Hopkinson tensile bar apparatus. The experimental results show that both the TiCp/Ti composite and its matrix alloy exhibit an obvious strain-rate hardening property. But the high strain-rate sensitivity of the TiCp/Ti composite is significantly higher than that of the matrix. The high strain-rate sensitivity of the TiCp/Ti composite is considered to be originated from the high dislocation accumulation rate during dynamic deformation and the constraint of TiC particles on the surrounding matrix, which dramatically enhances rate of the matrix. Finally, a phenomenological dynamic constitutive relation is established considering the composite is elastic-perfectly plastic material.