Influences of interphase on dynamic effective properties of composites reinforced by dispersed spherical particles

The influences of interphase on dynamic effective properties of composites reinforced by randomly dispersed spherical particles were studied. A thin homogeneous elastic interphase with different shear and bulk moduli, located between the reinforced particle and the host matrix, was introduced to model the interfacial bonding state. The effects of such an interphase on the coherent plane waves were studied numerically. Numerical simulations were carried out for SiC-Al composites with four typical cases of interphase. It was found that the property of interphase has significant influences on the effective propagation constants of coherent waves and the dynamic effective elastic moduli of the composites. The influences on the coherent longitudinal wave and the coherent shear waves were different and dependent upon the frequency range. Moreover, several imperfect interface models, i.e., the spring model, mass model, and spring-mass model, were studied numerically and compared with the interphase model. It was found that the spring model is a more suitable model than the mass model for the light and weak interphase whereas the mass model is a more suitable model than the spring model for the heavy and strong interphase.