Work

Manufacturing and impact resistance of Large-Scale stacked fibre metal laminates

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: This study introduces an automatic manufacturing process for large-scale stacked fibre metal laminates (FMLs) to reduce costs compared with traditional manufacturing methods. A 3D finite element model was developed using Abaqus/Explicit, incorporating the Johnson─Cook, 3D-Hashin progressive damage, and cohesive surface models to evaluate the impact resistance of the produced FMLs. Charpy and ballistic impact tests were performed to assess the model's accuracy. This study investigates the impact resistance under Charpy and ballistic impact conditions. For the Charpy impact, we compared the impact resistance of monolithic aluminium plates, laminated aluminium plates, carbon FMLs, and glass FMLs and observed a progressive increase in energy absorption across these types. Increasing the composite layer thickness shifted the initial failure mode from bottom fracture to shear failure of the middle layer, resulting in decreased energy absorption and increased bending modulus. The influence of the impact angle was examined under ballistic impact, revealing that larger angles resulted in higher energy absorption in cases of complete bullet penetration. When comparing large-scale stacked FMLs to monolithic aluminium plates at the same impact angle, the latter absorbed more energy and provided better bulletproof performance. However, the large-scale stacked FMLs offer significant advantages in terms of weight reduction.

Source: Materials & Design

DOI: 10.1016/j.matdes.2025.113917

Authors: Ding Tang, Haoyang Huang, Yitong Fan, Huamiao Wang, Yinghong Peng

Institution: Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Language: English

Topic: Mechanical Behavior of Composites

Subfield: Mechanics of Materials

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,650

Funder: National Natural Science Foundation of China