Influence of anisotropy on creep in an anisotropic composite rotating disc with nonlinearly varying thickness

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of anisotropy in terms of a single parameter indicating strengthening or weakening in the tangential direction in composite disc with hyperbolically varying thickness introduced presumably by processing or due to alignment of dispersed reinforcements during flow of the matrix. Design/methodology/approach – Mathematical model to describe steady-state creep behavior in an anisotropic rotating disc made of Al-SiCp composite containing 30 vol% of SiC particles. The creep behavior of the composite has been described by Sherby's law. The creep parameters in the law have been determined using the regression equations developed on the basis of available experimental results in the literature. Stress and strain rate distributions for isotropic disc (a=1) have been compared with those obtained for anisotropic composites with characteristic parameters a=0.7 and 1.3. Findings – The study revealed that the change in the stresses by anisotropy in composite disc is relatively small while anisotropy introduces significant change in the strain rates. It is concluded that the radial strain rate always remained compressive for the isotropic composite as well as the anisotropic disc with a greater than unity (a=1.3). However, it becomes tensile in the middle region of the disc when it is less than unity (a=0.7). If a is reduced from 1.3 to 0.7, the variation of tensile strain rate in the tangential direction remains similar, but the magnitude reduces, i.e. the strength in tangential direction is enhanced. Originality/value – This study puts forward an analytical framework for the analysis of creep stresses and creep rates in an anisotropic rotating disc with hyperbolically varying thickness.