Mechanical properties study on sandwich hybrid metal/(carbon, glass) fiber reinforcement plastic composite sheet

A series of sandwich hybrid metal (steel, aluminum) + carbon, glass fiber reinforcement plastic composite (CFRP, GFRP) + metal composite sheet was developed to achieve the lightweight design purpose. It was found that the CFPR and GFRP played an important role in reducing the density of the composite sheet up to 30%, as well as maximum 30% improvement of the specific strength. The bridging mechanism found in development of hybrid sheet attributed from CF and GF delayed the composite sheet fracture, which shall improve the safety for automotive components. This result offers new insights on design and processing of metal + fiber reinforcement plastic composite sheet for lightweight design. The developed sandwich hybrid sheet with metallic sheet surface and plastic/composite sheet mid-layer to provide lightweight application.