A study on mechanical and microstructure behaviour of carbon and glass fibre reinforced Al 2024-T3 laminated composite

Nowadays, usages of laminated composites have been extended to various applications such as automotive, aircraft and aerospace due to its high strength-weight ratio. Generally, aluminium alloys are developed using various casting techniques to achieve the required properties. However, laminated aluminium composites have received great attention among the scientist due to the weight reduction, the damping capacity they offer etc. In this present investigation, carbon and glass fibre laminated aluminium (Al2024-T3) composites are prepared by hand lay-up technique. Different form of aluminium structure namely sheet and mesh are used to fabricate − the composites. Different composites are prepared namely carbon fibre aluminium sheet laminate (CFASL), carbon fibre aluminium mesh laminate (CFAML), glass fibre aluminium sheet laminate (GFASL) and carbon fibre aluminium mesh laminate (GFAML). Effects of reinforcement of fibre on tensile, bending and flexural strength are studied. The microstructure of the composites is captured using scanning electron microscope (SEM) to study the failure mechanism. It was revealed that the CFASL and CFAML offered superior mechanical properties compared to the GFASL and GFAML. Higher tensile, bending and flexural strengths were obtained with carbon fibre and aluminium sheet laminated composites. They withstand the higher stresses due to less debonding and matrix cracking. Debonding and fibre breaking mechanisms observed in the glass fibre laminated composites caused reduced strength. CFASL composites showed superior mechanical properties followed by CFAML, GFASL and GFAML.