Experimental and Numerical Study on Mechanical Characteristics of Aluminum/Glass Fiber Composite Laminates

The fiber-metal composites made of aluminum sheets and glass fibers reinforced with a polyester resin as the matrix were studied. The composites were prepared by hand lay-up method. Some aspects of manufacturing affecting the composite behavior were considered. In particular, the influences of the arrangement of layers and their number on the mechanical and physical properties of composites with ten different compositions were investigated. In addition two different densities of glass fibers were considered. The tensile modulus, tensile and impact strengths were determined following ASTM D3039 and ASTM D6110 standards. The results obtained show that the arrangement of the laminate layers influences Young's modulus and the tensile strength of the composite. The impact test results of the laminated structure reinforced with glass fibers illustrate a significant increase in the impact strength owing to adding the glass fibers compared to the control specimens. The simulations of tests using ABAQUS-based FEA were performed.