Tensile and flexural behavior of metal/CFRP hybrid laminated plates

Abstract Metal/CFRP hybrid material system has been recently introduced as an effective alternative for automotive applications. This study aimed to investigate tensile responses and flexural behaviors of aluminum/carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) hybrid laminated plates by comparing with their counterparts made of net CFRP or aluminum materials. The experimental results showed that for the hybrid specimens the tensile strength increased and the tensile modulus decreased with increasing number of CFRP layers. Further, it was found that the bending indicators of the hybrid specimens were in between those of pure CFRP specimen and pure aluminum specimen. With the increasing number of CFRP layers, a reduction in flexural modulus could be observed in the hybrid specimens, while the flexural strength increased. A parametric study was further conducted numerically and it was found that tensile modulus was less influenced by the fiber stacking sequences when the number of 45° CFRP layers was the same, and both tensile modulus and tensile strength decreased with increasing number of 45° CFRP layers. Type II hybrid specimen, fabricated by upper and lower CFRP plates sandwiched with aluminum core, showed the lowest flexural modulus but the highest flexural strength. When the configurational scheme changed from symmetric distribution (type II) into Type I (fabricated by upper CFRP plate and lower aluminum sheet) or Type III (fabricated by upper aluminum sheet and lower CFRP plate), flexural modulus increased but flexural strength decreased. As for the Type II hybrid specimens, the flexural modulus decreased with increasing number of 45° CFRP layers.