Feasibility study of an integrated pre‐curing and forming process for 6061 Al alloy and carbon fiber hybrid composites

Abstract This article proposes a 6061‐T6 Al alloy and carbon fiber hybrid composite material pre‐curing and forming integrated new process, which can significantly reduce the hybrid composite material processing time, improve the production efficiency, and provide the possibility of hybrid composite materials in automotive parts applications. The process started by placing hand‐stacked carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) composites on the surface of 6061 Al alloy sheets, followed by bonding and pre‐curing of the CFRP to the Al alloy sheets through two different sets of dies in a hydraulic press, and ultimately full curing in an aging furnace. Mechanical properties of the CFRP/Al hybrid composite material were measured by flexural tests. The results show that the flexural strength of CFRP/Al hybrid composites with different layups ([90] 12 , [0/45/90/−45] 3 , and [0] 12 ) was increased by 159%, 93.4%, and 67.9%, respectively, compared with the single 6061 Al alloy. According to the macro‐morphological observation, [90] 12 lay‐up parts have the least thinning. According to the microstructure observation, no obvious cracks or voids were found in the [90] 12 lay‐up parts. Elongated cracks and void defects could be found in the [0] 12 lay‐up parts. For the [0/45/90/−45] 3 lay‐up parts, voids are mainly exist in ±45°layups. The results of the spring‐back analysis show that the standard deviation of the formed parts obtained from the three lay‐up methods is within 1 mm, indicating that the forming effect is good. Highlights New process improves productivity and reduces production costs The flexural strength of CFRP/Al hybrid parts is greatly improved [90]° 12 lay‐up parts have the least thinning and no cracks were found The forming precision of the three lay‐up parts is good