Graphene-reinforced aluminum matrix composites (GRAMCs) attract great interest in industries due to their high performance potential. High-temperature processes such as sintering and aging are usually applied during the preparation of GRAMCs, leading to grain coarsening that significantly influences its properties. In this work, a modified 3D Monte Carlo Potts model was proposed to investigate the effect of content and size of graphene on the grain evolution during the heat treatment of GRAMCs. Grain growth with graphene contents from 0.5 wt.% to 4.5 wt.% and sizes from 5 μm to 15 μm were simulated. The grain growth process, final grain size and morphology of the microstructure were predicted. The results indicated that both the content and size of the reinforcements had an impact on the grain evolution. The pinning effect of grain size can be enhanced by increasing the content and decreasing the size of graphene. Agglomeration and self-contacting phenomena of the graphene arose obviously when the contents and sizes were relatively high. The average grain size decreased by 48.77% when the content increased from 0.5 wt.% to 4.5 wt.%. The proposed method and predicted regulations can provide a reference for the design and fabrication of GRAMCs.

In order to study on tensile and fatigue fracture mechanism of friction stir welded (FSW) joints, the tensile and fatigue behavior of FSW joints are studied based on the microstructure and strain distribution. The large plastic deformation and fracture occurred in the thermo-mechanically affected zone (TMAZ) on retreating side in tension tests. High contents of shear texture and small angle grain boundary reduce the tensile mechanical property of TMAZ material. The fatigue weak area for FSW joints is affected by the loading condition. The strain concentration in the welded nugget zone (WNZ) and base material makes the fatigue fracture liable to happen in these areas for the FSW joints under the stress ratios of 0.1 and −0.3. When the fracture occurred in WNZ, the crack initiation mainly occurred in clusters of hardened particles, while when the fracture happened in base material, the crack initiation mainly occurred near the pit. The crack in WNZ propagated in an intergranular pattern and the crack in the other areas extended in a transgranular mode, leading to a higher crack growth rate of WNZ than of other regions.