Analytical evaluation on uniaxial tensile deformation behavior of fiber metal laminate based on SRPP and its experimental confirmation

Abstract

Uniaxial tensile tests have been carried out to accurately evaluate the in-plain mechanical properties of fiber metal laminates (FMLs). The FMLs in this paper comprised of a layer of self-reinforced polypropylene (SRPP) sandwiched between two layers of aluminum alloy 5052-H34. In this study, nonlinear tensile and fracture behavior of FMLs under in-plane loading conditions has been investigated with numerical simulations and theoretical analysis. The numerical simulation based on finite element modeling using the ABAQUS/Explicit and the theoretical constitutive model based on the volume fraction approach using the rule of mixture and the modified classical lamination theory, which incorporates the elastic–plastic behavior of the aluminum alloy and SRPP, are used to predict the in-plain mechanical properties such as stress–strain response and deformation behavior of the FMLs. In addition, the pre-stretching process is used to reduce the thermal residual stresses before the uniaxial tensile tests of the FMLs. Through comparing the numerical simulations and the theoretical analysis with the experimental results, it is concluded that the adopted numerical simulation model and the theoretical approach can describe with sufficient accuracy of the actual tensile stress–strain curve.