Performance Characteristics of Aluminium and Natural Fibre Laminate Composites

Abstract

Fibre-metal hybrid laminate epoxy composites with high toughness and impact damage resistance were developed and characterized in this present study. The primary aim of this present study was to study the suitability of natural fibre based FMLs for aerospace and automotive applications. A hybrid fibre-metal laminate was bonded into SiC-toughened epoxy resin produce high-performance structural material. 3-Aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) was used to surface-treat the novel natural fibre caryota urens and silicon carbide (SiC) particles, while the aluminium foil was sandblasted. Vacuum bag moulding and post curing were used to create a hybrid fibre-metal laminate with different stacking sequencing. According to the results, the composite designation CAC1, which contains 0.5vol.% SiC, has the maximum strength factor of 97. The addition of foil and SiC particle of suitable volume improved the properties. A highest tensile and flexural strength of 140 and 182MPa was observed, which is equal to 115.2% and 76.6% of improvement on compare to the neat resin.Scanning electron microscopy images of surface-treated reinforcements with epoxy resin matrix indicated a strongly reacted phase. The ACA1 composite has the highest energy absorption of 20.6J due to its high energy absorbing capability. The composite designation CAC2 had the maximum fatigue life cycle of 36491. Similarly, composite designation CAC1 has the maximum fracture toughness and energy release rate. The fracture toughness was found to be 32.1 MPaand#8730;m, with an energy release rate of 1.557 MJ/m2. It is observed that the 1.0 vol. percent SiC particle addition provided lower results than the 0.5vol.% in most of composite designations. newline