Experimental investigation of impact behavior of aluminum surface plate and aramid fiber core sandwiches

This study focuses on the development of fiber metal laminates (FMLs) as an alternative to conventional aluminum. FMLs are widely employed in applications demanding high strength, energy absorption, low weight, and high stiffness, such as aerospace, spacecraft, defense, and motorsports. Common face sheet materials for these panels include aluminum plates (2000 and 7000 series), carbon fiber, and glass fiber. For composite plies, aramid fibers, aluminum foam, and honeycomb core materials with various geometries are preferred. Aramid fibers (AFs) have attracted substantial interest as reinforcement elements in composite materials due to their excellent comprehensive properties, including low density, high specific strength, high specific modulus, and high-temperature resistance In this study, newly designed FML production will be carried out with aramid fibers placed between 1 mm thick aluminum (AA 7075) plates and high speed impact responses will be investigated. In the production of sandwich panels, the bonding method of Al and aramid fibers (polyurethane foam and epoxy), the pressure applied during the production of sandwich plates (15, 25, 35 bar) and the number of aramid fibers (2, 4, 6 pieces) were determined as experimental parameters. According to the determined experimental parameters, different sandwich panels will be produced and subjected to high speed impact tests. The results obtained from the tests will be examined. In addition, damage detection of both the aluminum cover plate and the aramid core will be performed.