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Molecular dynamics study on microscale residual stress of graphene/aluminum nanocomposites by selective laser sintering

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The fabrication of graphene/metal matrix composites by selective laser sintering (SLS) technique has been extensively studied; however, the complex microstructure and residual stress limit their further applications. Herein, the sintering behavior of graphene/aluminum (Gr/Al) composites is studied using an all-atom model. The effect of sintering temperature and Al particle size on densification is investigated based on molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The results reveal that the higher sintering temperature and smaller particle size are conducive to the improved sintering quality of Gr/Al composites. Then, a large-scale laser sintering model of Gr/Al composites is established and the sintering process is simulated using optimal sintering parameters. The evolution of microstructure and residual stress of Gr/Al composites during SLS are investigated in detail. The results indicate that the epitaxial growth of Al grains plays a dominant role in grain growth, promoting the formation of nanoscale single crystals. Therefore, stress concentration occurs at the voids, microcracks and Gr/Al interfaces, but not at the stacking faults. What’s more, the distribution characteristics of residual stress components in Gr/Al composites are affected by Gr/Al interaction.

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摘要

利用选择性激光烧结 (SLS) 技术制造石墨烯/金属基复合材料已经被广泛研究, 然而复杂的微观结构和残余应力限制了复合材料进一步的应用. 本文使用全原子模型研究了石墨烯/铝 (Gr/Al) 复合材料的烧结行为. 基于分子动力学 (MD) 模拟, 研究了烧结温度和铝颗粒大小对致密化的影响. 结果表明, 较高的烧结温度和较小的颗粒尺寸有利于提高Gr/Al复合材料的烧结质量. 建立了Gr/Al复合材料的大规模激光烧结模型, 并使用最佳烧结参数对烧结过程进行了模拟. 详细研究了 SLS 过程中 Gr/Al 复合材料的微观结构和残余应力的演变. 结果表明, 铝晶粒的外延生长在晶粒生长中起主导作用, 促进了纳米级单晶的形成. 因此, 应力集中发生在空隙, 微裂纹和Gr/Al界面, 而不是在堆积断层. 更重要的是, Gr/Al 复合材料中残余应力成分的分布特征受到Gr/Al相互作用的影响.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 11872079) and the General Program of Science and Technology Development Project from Beijing Municipal Education Commission (No. KM201810005002).

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  1. Department of Engineering Mechanics, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, 100124, China

    Xing-Nan Hao & Xia Liu

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  1. Xing-Nan Hao
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Hao, XN., Liu, X. Molecular dynamics study on microscale residual stress of graphene/aluminum nanocomposites by selective laser sintering. Rare Met. 41, 3677–3683 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12598-022-02079-x

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