• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.29 no.11 s.242
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• pp.1480-1487
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• 2005

Metal matrix composites(MMCs) have been rapidly becoming one of the strongest candidates for structural materials fur many high temperature application. However, among the various high temperature environments in which metal matrix composites was applied, thermal shock is known to cause significant degradation in most MMC system. Due to the appreciable difference in coefficient of thermal expansion(CTE) between reinforcement and metal matrix, internal stresses are generated following temperature changes. Infernal stresses affect degradation of mechanical properties of MMC by causing microscopic damage in interface and matrix during thermal cycling. Therefore, the nondestructive evaluation on thermal shock damage behavior of SiC/A16061 composite has been carried out using ultrasonics. For this study, SiC fiber reinforced metal matrix composite specimens fabricated by a squeeze casting technique were thermally cycled in the temperature range 298$\~$673 K up to 1000cyc1es. Three point bending test was conducted to investigate the efffct of thermal shock damage on mechanical properties. The relationship between thermal shock damage behavior and the propagation characteristics of surface wave and SH-ultrasonic wave was discussed by considering the result of SEM observation of fracture surface.