Fracture and fatigue behaviour of aluminium matrix composite automotive pistons

The fracture and fatigue behaviour of prototype automotive pistons produced in an aluminium alloy matrix composite in industrial conditions has been studied. Fracture toughness increased when the testing temperature rose from 20° to 75°C and kept near constant up to 250°C, when a significantly lower value was recorded. A change in the failure operating mechanism, which can explain this trend, was observed by analysing the fracture surfaces in the scanning electron microscope. Room temperature fatigue tests performed with R∈=∈0.1 stress ratio led to an average value of the Paris law exponent higher than those reported in aluminium alloys but low for an industrially produced brittle composite. A higher exponent and a much larger scattering were observed in those fatigue tests carried out under R∈=∈0.5 stress ratio.