Irreversible deformation of metal matrix composites: A study via the mechanism-based cohesive zone model

• The irreversible deformation of metal matrix composites is studied during a loading–unloading cycle.
• The interfacial plasticity and damage induced debonding is considered at finite deformation.
• The ductile mechanism of the metal matrix is considered to demonstrate the irreversible behavior.

An elastic–plastic interface model at finite deformations is utilized to predict the irreversible deformation of metal matrix composites (MMCs) under the transverse loading and unloading conditions. The associated benefit of the cohesive model is to provide a physical insight on the main irreversible deformation mechanisms, i.e., the geometrically nonlinear, localized plastic deformation and damage induced debonding, at the interface of MMCs. The extensive parametric study is conducted using this cohesive model to investigate the effects of the cohesive parameters on the stress–strain response of MMCs under transverse loading. Further, the ductile mechanism of the matrix is considered to characterize the competition between the plastic flow of the matrix and the inelastic interface induced irreversible deformation. Moreover, the predictions using the cohesive model are compared with those available experimental data in the literature to demonstrate the inelastic behaviors, including the interfacial plasticity and damage induced debonding, as well as the plastic flow of the matrix. The numerical results of the stress–strain responses for both loading and unloading conditions show good agreements with those obtained by the experiment. The deformation and failure modes of MMCs predicted by the model are also consistent with the observations of the experiment.