Effect of surface treatments and stacking sequences on the mechanical properties of fiber metal laminates

In this study, the effect of surface treatments and stacking sequences on the mechanical properties of fiber metal laminates (FMLs) were investigated. Aluminum 8006 alloys and very thin stainless steel wire meshes were used as metal in FML composites. The surface treatments such as anodizing, and etching were applied on Aluminum 8006 to improve the adhesive bonding capability. Also, FML composites were manufactured with different stacking sequences to investigate the effect of the hybridization. To determine the mechanical properties of FML composites several tests were carried out such as three-point bending, lap shear, Charpy impact tests. By this means, it is aimed to study comprehensively the effect of type of metals, surface treatments, and the stacking sequence on the mechanical properties of FMLs. To figure out the effect of design parameters on experimental results, a two-way Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied. It has been seen that a significant improvement in flexural, shear strength and impact resistance of FML composites could be obtained by optimum hybridization.