Bimetal or laminated metal composites consisting of several metal or alloy layers can efficiently absorb the advantageous properties of each metal when utilised as raw materials for future remanufacturing. Their mechanical response characteristics and failure modes face uncertain challenges during the processing owing to the existence of heterogenous interfacial transition zones between layers. This work aims to study the uncertainty quantification in bending processing of a novel bimetal composite as a result of uncertain interfacial zones using an efficient evidence-based reliability analysis method. An analytical model for bending characteristics of bimetal composite was first established based on the deterministic material properties of each component layer, and it was employed to quantitatively analyse the bending uncertainty properties of 2205 duplex stainless steel/AH36 carbon steel bimetal composite (2205/AH36 BC) considering the epistemic uncertainty in geometric dimensions an
The interfacial zone formed in the manufacturing process of bimetal or laminated metal composites owes complicated microstructures and properties. This special feature greatly affects the fracture toughness and fatigue strength of metal composites. The crack growth behaviours, from a weak layer (AH36 carbon steel) to a strong layer (2205 duplex stainless steel), at the interfacial zone of a hot-rolled bimetal composite (2205/AH36 BC) were investigated. To clarify the potential factors altering the crack growth behaviour near the interface, the variations in fracture force under different loading speeds and directions were obtained from a well-designed micro tensile machine. The results indicate that the influence of crack propagation direction on the tensile fracture force when passing through the interfacial zone is greater than the force at the initial notch of crack. The tension loading speed determines the shielding or amplification effect on the crack tip, verified by the microstr
Laminated/bimetal composites can offer the advantage of combining constituent metals, but their heterogeneous microstructures exhibit different mechanical properties during subsequent remanufacturing process than those of the homogeneous counterparts. This study investigated the tensile properties, microstructural evolution and deformation behaviours of a new explosive welded TA1/5083 composite sheet using the in-situ characterisation. It is found that a wavy transition zone forms in the composite sheet, showing gradients in the element diffusion and micro-hardness adjacent to the interface. The slip bands with the tensile direction of 45° primarily occur in the 5083 side (rather than the TA1 side) with an increase in deformation. Although the dislocation density of the grains in the 5083 layer increases significantly, these grains are slightly elongated along the tensile direction without a significant orientation change. Three deformation stages and a subsequent crack initiation sta