Two engineering materials are subjected to fully-reversed, strain-controlled, cyclic deformation at room temperature. The first, a substitutional solid soution alloy, exhibits an isotropic hardening response. The second is a composite whose matrix is identical to the first alloy; spherical ceramic particles, 25% by volume, are uniformly dispersed in this matrix.
(a) Speculate on the dislocation-particle interactions in the second material during cyclic plastic deformation.
(b) Schematically sketch the shape of the cyclic stress-strain curve during repeated tension-compression loading.
(c) Discuss the type of hardening rule you would use to model the cyclic constitutive behavior of the composite.