Residual stresses in a silicon carbide/aluminum (SiC/Al) composite int
roduced by the cooling process were investigated. The large mismatch o
f the coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE) between the silicon carb
ide (SCS-2) fiber and 6061 aluminum matrix tends to produce high resid
ual stresses so that plastic flow of the matrix is inevitable during c
ool down. The elastoplastic behavior of the composite material was stu
died. The analysis is based on the successive approximation scheme wit
h the Prandtl-Reuss plastic flow model and von Mises criterion. The th
ree-dimensional state of residual stress in the fiber and matrix was c
omputed. It was found that plastic flow of the matrix relieves the res
idual stresses in both fiber and matrix. In addition, the longitudinal
stress-strain curve at room temperature under uniaxial tension and th
e thermal strain-temperature relationship of the composite were predic
ted and compared with experimental results.