Mechanical performance of a novel environmentally friendly basalt‐elium® thermoplastic composite and its stainless steel‐based fiber metal laminate

Abstract

AbstractA comparative performance study is conducted to better understand the mechanical performance of an environmentally friendly composite and its fiber‐metal laminate (FML) renditions developed with natural fibers (basalt), and a novel room‐cured liquid methyl methacrylate thermoplastic resin (Elium®) and also by a widely used room‐cured epoxy resin (West System). Mechanical characterizations are performed using tensile, buckling and flexural tests. The results indicate that the composites fabricated with the acrylic‐based Elium matrix could be considered as effective alternatives to those produced by thermoset epoxy resins. Moreover, the mechanical properties of a new generation of thermoplastic fiber metal laminates (TP‐FMLs) fabricated by vacuum‐assisted resin infusion technique are also investigated. The TP‐FMLs are fabricated using stainless steel sheets, basalt fabric and Elium. Two different procedures are considered for fabricating the TP‐FMLs; a one‐step process consuming 24 h curing cycle time and a two‐step process with 72 h curing cycle time. The mechanical responses of the developed TP‐FMLs are compared against their equivalent monolithic environmentally friendly basalt‐Elium counterparts, demonstrating the gain in mechanical responses that could be attained by employing the TP‐FMLs.