Comparison of Mechanical Properties of Industrial and Natural Fiber Reinforced Aluminum Matrix Laminate Composites
Mustafa Yunus ASKIN Yunus Türen MUHAMMET EMRE TURAN Yavuz Sun Hayrettin Ahlatçı
AbstractAbstract Fiber Metal Laminate (FML) with specific strength and low densities, which is a family of hybrid composite structure formed from the combination of metal layers sandwiching a fiber-reinforced plastic layer, have big potential in aeronautical applications in nowadays [1]. Researchers have tried to fabricate laminated composite materials in order to meet demands of industry. Available literature describes already applied laminates consisting of aluminium alloys and glass fibres (GLARE®), carbon fibres (CARALL®) and aramid fibres (ARALL®) [2]–[4]. Today, materials research is moving towards natural fibre composites/laminates. It is because of factors such as low weight, cost effectiveness, man’s desire to go in for natural products, environment friendliness, renewable nature, biodegradability with respect to fiber, and ready use of plants/trees with less processing [5]. The aim of this study is to investigate of microstructural and mechanical performance of metal laminated composite using both natural fibers and industrial fibers as reinforcement. 1050 H24 Aluminum sheet with 0.25 mm thickness was used as matrix material. Silk fabric and S2-glass fiber were reinforced with aluminum separately. Aluminum sheets were cut to suitable size for hot pressing. Mechanical grinding was applied to improve surface roughness and adhesion mechanism. Metal sheets were washed with distilled water and ethanol, respectively. Then they were waited in the chromic acid solution. Epoxy resin and hardener were weighed (100:20 ratio %wt) and mixed homogenously for lamination process. Two different samples for each reinforced composite were prepared for curing process under heat and pressure in the hot-pressing device according to the metal-fiber-metal- fiber-metal stacking sequence (Figure 1) by hand lay-up. The prepared laminate composites were cured at 80 °C and under 1 ton pressure for three hours. Microstructures of laminate composites were characterized using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). Samples were prepared for tensile test to examine mechanical properties. Results show that good adhesive bonding was achieved and there were no macro defects such as porosities in microstructure for all specimens. Composites exhibited different mechanical performance (Table 1) and S-2 glass fiber reinforced composite showed best mechanical properties among the specimens. But when the adhesion mechanism of the silk fabric to the resin is improved, it can be used as an alternative natural reinforcement for fiber metal laminates.