Preparation and characterization of aluminium alloy sheet Aramid fibre-laminated composites

Laminated composites consisting of alternate layers of aluminium alloy sheets and unidirectional Kevlar-49 fibre epoxy composites were prepared using two different aluminium alloys DTD 687 and aluminium-lithium alloy. Tensile, compressive and interlaminar shear strengths of the laminates were measured. The residual stresses in the aluminium alloy sheets arising out of thermal mismatch between aluminium alloys and aramid fibres were also measured. It is found that the laminates have lower density, higher tensile strength and marginally lower Young’s modulus as compared with monolithic alloy sheets.