Effects of pore structure and distribution on strength of porous Cu-Sn-Ti alumina composites

Porous Cu-Sn-Ti alumina composites were fabricated by sintering Cu-Sn-Ti alloy powders, graphite particles, and alumina hollow particles agent. The effects of the pore structure and distribution on the composites strength were evaluated. Different pore distributions were modeled by using finite element analysis to investigate the tensile strength of the composites. Furthermore, a fractal analysis-based box-covering algorithm was used on the Cu-Sn-Ti alumina composites topology graphs to better investigate the pore structure and distribution. Results obtained show that different sizes and concentrations of alumina hollow particles could result in different porosities from 20% to 50%. A larger pore size and a higher pore concentration reduce the strength, but provide more space for chip formation as a bonding material of a grinding wheel. The body-centered pore structure of the composites shows the highest stress under a tension load. The original composites topology graphs have been transformed to ordered distributed pore graphs based on the total pore area conservation. The information dimension magnitude difference between the original topology graphs and the ordered distributed circulars graphs is found to be linear with the Cu-Sn-Ti alumina composites strength. A larger difference renders a lower flexural strength, which indicates that uniform ordered distributed pores could benefit the composites strength.