Fabrication Process, Tensile, and Gamma Rays Shielding Properties of Newly Developed Fiber Metal Laminates Based on an Al–Li Alloy and Carbon Fibers‐Tungsten Carbide Nanoparticles Reinforced Phthalonitrile Resin Composite

Abstract

In the present study, new fiber‐metal laminates (FMLs) are manufactured from the lay‐up process of the carbon fibers‐tungsten carbide nanoparticles/phthalonitrile (CFs‐WC/PN) composite and the Al–Li alloy. The properties of the developed hybrids are analyzed and compared with those of the monolithic alloy. Generally speaking, the results indicate that the amount of the fiber considerably affects the tensile properties. The mechanical properties of the FMLs show enhancements over both the Al–Li alloy and the CFs/PN composite individually. When the number of the composite layers varies from 4 to 12, the ultimate tensile strength of the prepared FMLs increase from 335.3 to 690.5 MPa. The FMLs present a ductile behavior (up to a failure strain of 20%), which can be attributed to the ductile fracture morphology of the Al–Li alloy. These improvements are the result of the synergistic combination of the high strength of composites and the superior ductility of metals. In the meantime, the gamma rays (γ‐rays) shielding test reveals that increasing the weight amount of the tungsten carbide (WC) nanoparticles in the composite noticeably improves the screening ratio, reaching the exceptional value of 46% for the hybrid containing 20 wt% of WC.

Processability and mechanical properties of surface-modified glass-fibres/phthalonitrile composite and Al–Li alloy fibre-metal-laminates

“…The applied stress of all the Al-LiFMLs was then transferred to the alloy layers and was considerably reduced. It was deduced that during the specimen testing, the composite layers in the FMLs failed before the metal layers which supported the remaining load [3,4,33]. Figure 4(b,d) evidently showed that, during the tensile testing, the failure of composite layers first occurred, then the fracture of the Al–Li alloy happened.…”

“…Fibre-metal laminates (FMLs), as a new category of composite materials have found, in recent decades, extensive applications in various industrial fields, such as the advanced aerospace/aeronautical industry, marine, and armour sectors, due to their versatile properties such as high specific strength and specific stiffness, excellent fatigue life, corrosion resistance among other benefits [1,2]. Actually, the key feature of these advanced materials is to be comprised of thin sheets of metals stacked and adhesively bonded together with a fibre-reinforced polymeric prepreg, which is primarily governed by the attractive characteristics of these two systems [3,4].…”

“…In this context, the FMLs based on the Al–Li alloy showed a slight enhancement in strength and an obvious elastic modulus enhancement, as well as considerably advancing the damage tolerance of the structure when compared with the conventional GLARE (glass laminate aluminium reinforced epoxy) [19,20]. In the meantime, it was also reported that modifying the precipitation behaviour of the Al–Li layers produced an enhancement in the performances of the FMLs [3,4,21]. To the best of our knowledge, the studies about the mechanical properties of the FMLs based on Al–Li alloys and PN resins are not available.…”