Studies on the performance of novel fiber metal laminate and laminated composites

Abstract

Development of innovative materials without depleting the environment and human health is the objective which drives the research on material sciences In this line materialists have started to replace harmful synthetic fibers with natural sustainable eco friendly natural fibers as a reinforcement Moreover weight reduction in structural materials is another major requirement for various sectors in industries Considering these challenging aspects new light weight Fiber Metal Laminate FML and Laminated Composites LC were developed and investigated in this research FMLs are hybrid structures made using thin metal aluminium sheets stacked and sandwiched with fiber reinforced polymer materials such as ceramic mat/ceramic foam Similarly the LCs are developed by stacking and bonding different combinations involving ceramic mat ceramic foam and basalt mat The metal sheets and layers of fiber mats were bonded with epoxy resin under compressive force Six combinations developed and comprehensively characterized to ascertain its properties for structural applications Three combination of FML was developed as follows AFA Aluminium Sheet Ceramic Foam Aluminium Sheet MAM Ceramic Mat Aluminium Sheet Ceramic Mat and AMA Aluminium Sheet Ceramic Mat Aluminium Sheet The thickness of aluminium sheet is 1 mm thick of the grade AA7475 basalt fiber is 0 5 mm thick and the ceramic foam mat is 1 5 mm thick which will crush by the application of load during bonding operation Similarly three combination of LC was developed with ceramic and basalt mat ceramic foam The laminates were prepared under a compression load of 18 MPa in a mold of size 300 130 3 mm newline