Mechanical response of fibre metal laminates (FMLs) under low to intermediate strain rate tension

Abstract

• Young’s modulus of FMLs was observed to be strain rate insensitive. • Tensile strength of aluminium-based FMLs was found to be sensitive to strain rate. • Specific tensile properties of FMLs were significantly improved over pure metals. • Titanium-based FMLs had higher specific strength but lower SEA than aluminium-based FMLs. Fibre metal laminates (FMLs) are increasingly employed in various industries for their exceptional mechanical properties. Quasi-static tensile and flexural properties, fatigue performance and impact resistance of FMLs have been extensively investigated in the past. However, research on the intermediate strain rate range is still limited. This paper experimentally investigated the influence of strain rate on the tensile failure and mechanical response of self-made titanium- and aluminium-based FMLs at strain rates up to 10 2 s -1 . The results showed that, aluminium-based FMLs showed three-stage failure patterns, similar to that of the quasi-static tension. For titanium-based FMLs, only two stages were found in the stress-strain curves for all the strain rates. The strain rate had negligible influence on the Young’s modulus of all FMLs, the tensile strength and energy absorption capacity of titanium-based FMLs. However, the tensile strength and energy absorption capacity of aluminium-based FMLs were slightly strain rate sensitive. It was also found that titanium-based FMLs had higher specific tensile strength but lower specific energy absorption than aluminium-based FMLs at all strain rates.