An experimental study on fatigue characteristics of CFRP-steel hybrid laminates

This paper aims to investigate the fatigue characteristics of hybrid laminates consisting of wave carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheets and a thin stainless steel plate under the tension–tension loading. Different loading options (e.g. same stress and same force), layers of CFRP sheets, and lay-ups of laminates (single and double sides) were considered. A series of experimental tests were performed to determine the effectiveness of the CFRP bonding on prolonging fatigue crack initiation life, preventing fatigue crack propagation and extending fatigue life of the hybrid laminates. Three distinct failure modes, classified as delamination, delamination bending and fiber breakage, were observed in the tests. It is shown that the loading conditions and CFRP thickness are the critical parameters affecting the failure modes and fatigue resistance. The crack initiation life and fatigue life of fiber-metal laminates (FMLs) increase by factors ranging from 1.06 to 1.96 and 1.17 to 2.07, respectively, relative to monolithic steel plates under the same force condition; whereas decrease by factors ranging from 0.63 to 0.89 and 0.28 to 0.61 under the same stress condition. Moreover, the double-side bonded FMLs show better fatigue properties and more stable crack propagation than single-side counterpart with the same thickness of CFRP.