The effect of thermal and cryogenic environments on the impact performance of aluminum-glass fibers/epoxy laminated composites

In this research work, the effect of various environments on the impact properties of fiber metal laminates was investigated. To do so, in the first step, the 2024 aluminum layers were surface modified with the etching method. Then, the various glass fibers/epoxy composites with the configurations of (0°/0°/0°/0°, 90°/90°/90°/90°, +45°/−45°/−45°/+45° and 0°/90°/90°/0°) were sandwiched between two aluminum sheets. In the following, these samples were aged under thermal cycling (between 25 and 100 °C), isothermal aging at the temperature of 100°C, cryogenic cycling (between −196 and 25 °C), and cryogenic isothermal aging at the temperature of −196°C. To understand the effect of various aging methods on the mechanical features of these structures, the Charpy impact test was performed. Also, the failure mechanisms and related phenomena were assessed by visual observations and microstructural investigations. In the first steps of thermal aging, the impact strength of FMLs was improved, which the highest of that being 46.9%. In the higher cycles or exposing times, the impact strength showed reducing trends, due to thermal degradations of the epoxy matrix. The cryogenic cycling in the high cycles reduced the impact strength of FMLs. But in the cryogenic isothermal condition, in some cases, the improvement in the impact strength was seen, which the highest of that being about 43.4%.