The influence of interfacial bonding on the response of lightweight aluminium and glass fibre metal laminate panels subjected to air-blast loading

Abstract

This paper examines the effects of glass fibre configuration and epoxy resin type on the response of glass fibre epoxy-based fibre metal laminate panels. These lightweight materials are excellent candidates for use in transportation applications, where mass is a major factor in design and materials selection. Interfacial bond strength was characterised through single leg bend testing and revealed varying failure characteristics for different epoxy configurations and surface treatments. A combination of bead blasting and silane treatment provided the best surface treatment for the aluminium, while SE84 epoxy resin gave superior adhesion properties compared to Prime 20ULV. Blast tests were performed to investigate the effect of bond strength on panel response under localised and more uniformly distributed air-blast loading conditions. Dimensionless analysis and failure mode identification were used to show that both fibre configuration and bond strength played a role in blast response but the bond strength (and particularly resin type) was more prominent.