Investigation of the Deformation Behaviour and Resulting Ply Thicknesses of Multilayered Fibre–Metal Laminates

• Main Authors: Missam Irani, Moritz Kuhtz, Mathias Zapf, Madlen Ullmann, Andreas Hornig, Maik Gude, Ulrich Prahl
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-07-01
• Series: Journal of Composites Science
• Subjects: fibre–metal laminates; finite element analysis; ply thickness; channel forming
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2504-477X/5/7/176

Multilayered fibre–metal laminates (FMLs) are composed of metal semifinished products and fibre-reinforced plastics, and benefit from the advantages of both material classes. Light metals in combination with fibre-reinforced thermoplastics are highly suitable for mass production of lightweight structures with good mechanical properties. As the formability of light metal sheets is sometimes limited at room temperature, increasing the process temperature is an appropriate approach to improve formability. However, the melting of thermoplastic materials and resulting loss of stiffness limit the processing temperature. Since single-ply layers have different through-thickness stiffnesses, the forming process changes the ply thickness of the multilayered laminate. In the present study, the deformation behaviour of multilayered FMLs was investigated using a two-dimensional finite-element model assuming plane strain. The thermoelastic-plastic finite-element analysis made investigation of the variation in thickness made possible by incorporating sufficient mesh layers in the thickness direction. The results indicate that a thermoelastic-plastic finite-element model can predict the delamination of plies during deformation, as well as in the final product. Additionally, the predicted changes in thickness of the plies are in good agreement with experimental results when a temperature-dependent friction coefficient is used.