Development and investigation of fiber metal laminates for automotive applications

Abstract

Fiber Metal Laminates (FMLs) are the class of composite materials. newlineThese composite materials are chosen for the particular applications where the newlineweight reduction and improved mechanical qualities are required. Tensile, newlineflexural, wear and hardness qualities are crucial in a variety of applications newlineincluding industrial products, automotives, locomotives, marine parts, newlineaviation, defence and space vehicles. newlineThe hand-lay-up technique is used in this research to create a unique newlinematerial that uses 1100 wire mesh as the core material, synthetic and natural newlinefibers as the skin material and epoxy resin as the parent matrix material. Two newlinedifferent sets of FMLs are produced, one having plain epoxy resin as the newlinebinding element while the other set has BaSO4 nanoparticles mixed with newlineepoxy resin. Each set of FMLs has three synthetic materials i.e., Kevlar, newlinecarbon and glass fiber and one natural fiber i.e., abaca fiber as the newlinereinforcement material. newlineThe ballistic impact, tensile, hardness, flexural and wear resistance of the newlinemanufactured FMLs are evaluated. Furthermore, their storage modulus, loss newlinemodulus, damping factor and cole-cole plot are measured as part of the newlineDynamical Mechanical Analysis (DMA). Scanning electron microscope newline(SEM) is used to perform the microstructural examination. ASTM standards newlineare used on all the test specimens. Optimization is also carried out using the newlineDesign of Experiment (DoE) to validate the results on mechanical properties newlineand wear behavior. newline