Dynamic response of metal/polymer bilayer composite with optimized surface porosity by experiment and simulation

Metal/polymer bi-layered composites have been widely applied in vehicles and digital products. However, the metal/polymer joints usually suffer from fracture failure during dynamic load. This work optimizes the surface porosity to obtain good dynamic shear bonding performances of the 5052 aluminum alloy (Al5052)/polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) interface during the dynamic test. The nominal bonding performance reaches maximum with the Al5052 surface porosity of about 30%/dm2. Simulation with an equivalent macro complementary interfacial model is applied to verify qualitative bonding performance tendencies in the experiment. The experimental data plots are fitted by a piecewise function which includes a power function to represent the fundamental factor and an exponential function to represent the attenuation factor to help propose a method to estimate the porosity range which would achieve better bonding, and to compared with the ideal fitted simulation curves to evaluate the extent of other factors which decrease the dynamic bonding performance. The optimization of the nominal bonding performances obtained by the experiment-led and simulation-supported investigation has given prominence to the significance of the porosity control.