2004 Volume 45 Issue 2 Pages 542-549
The electrical, thermal and mechanical properties of functionally graded materials vary with microstructure and composition. Consequently it is very important to know quantitatively the properties of composites for the design of functionally graded materials. However, few methods of quantitative and theoretical evaluation for material properties on wide compositional range have been established. In this research, a method that estimates the material properties of composites directly from their microstructure assisted with finite element analysis was investigated. As an example of the estimation of material properties, the thermal conductivity of Mo fiber-Cu matrix composites has been evaluated. Calculated results of thermal conductivity are well in agreement with the experimental data measured by using a laser flash apparatus and the smallest deviation is 1.9%. The finite element analysis using a metallographic model is a very accurate method for estimation of composite properties.
