The influence of metal surface grid treatment on the mechanical properties of fiber metal laminates

Fiber metal laminates (FMLs) are a type of thin-layer composite structure formed by curing metal alloys and composite materials at a certain temperature and pressure. This paper adopts surface machining to create a grid-like structure on metal plates and manufactures glass fiber metal laminates using the treated metal plates and prepreg. The laminates are then subjected to three types of mechanical performance tests: tension, compression, and three-point bending, analyzing the failure modes of the specimens under different conditions. The experimental results show that compared to laminates without surface-designed metal plates, specimens with grid-like metal surface design exhibit a 9.1% increase in tensile strength, an 8.1% increase in tensile failure displacement, a 25.5% increase in compression strength, a 54.46% increase in compression failure displacement, a 7.1% increase in bending strength, and a 34.67% increase in bending failure displacement. This study demonstrates that surface grid-like treatment of metal can enhance the mechanical properties of fiber metal laminates.