Mechanical properties of a novel fibre metal laminate reinforced with the carbon, flax, and sugar palm fibres

Abstract

Concerns regarding the disposal, degradability, and recycling of synthetic fibres used in composite materials have highlighted the need for eco-friendly materials. This article focuses on fabrication and characterization of the fibre metal laminate (FML) reinforced with carbon, flax, and sugar palm fibres in order to reduce the environmental impact without compromising the strength requirements. Out of autoclave (OOA) manufacturing processes, including hand lay-up and hot compression molding, were employed to fabricate the FML. Tensile, compressive, inter-laminar shear strength (ILSS), and fatigue properties of the fabricated FML were studied. The results indicate that tensile properties and compressive strength for flax based FML (CFC) was superior and 23% higher than CSC while 5% higher than the hybrid CFSSFC configuration. CFSSFC outperformed CFC and CSC in the inter-laminar shear strength by showing 6.5% and 25% increment in magnitude. In case of fatigue, CFC showed excellent fatigue resistance by withstanding high fatigue loads and lasted up to 104 cycles before failure. Delamination between the metal/composite plies was observed in fractured samples under all the mechanical loads.