Effect of Interface Strength of M23C6 in Steel Matrix on Tensile Toughness and Strength

Using methods which are applied for estimating strength and toughness of composites reduces rate of trial-and-error in their design. One of the mechanisms for strengthening and increasing toughness of composites is application of reinforcement pull-out mechanism. Interface strength of reinforcement with matrix and effective surface of pulled-out greatly affect toughness and strength of these types of materials. In this study, a model was proposed to estimate interface and matrix strength of composites and share in increasing tensile toughness and strength. Then, strength of interface and its share in increasing tensile toughness and strength were calculated in a case study of composites containing M23C6 particle reinforcement in matrix of 1.2542 tool steel.