MECHANICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF NANOSILICA DISPERSED EPOXY ADHESIVE FOR ALUMINIUM/GLASS FIBRE HYBRID LAMINATE

Abstract

Fibre Metal Nano composite Laminates (FMNL) are hybrid composites, fabricated by sandwiching metal (aluminium alloy) with fibres (E-glass). In this work, aluminium alloy and GFRP (Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymers) are used as adherends and epoxy (Araldite LY 556) is employed as an adhesive. Such an FML can be termed as Glass Laminate Aluminium Reinforced Epoxy (GLARE), in which thin aluminium alloy sheets are bonded on either sides of Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP). Airplane fuselage and wing structures makes use of GLARE due to their superior mechanical properties. The most important objective of this work is to analyse the effect of dispersed Nano silica fillers in the epoxy resin.  The dispersion of nano fillers in the epoxy resin matrix is over a varying weight percentage of 0 to 7 to form different hybrid laminates. The formed laminates are tested for mechanical properties such as tensile, interlaminar shear, flexural and impact strength. Hybrid laminate with superior mechanical property and enhanced adhesive capacity compared to the other laminate samples are identified.