Fire properties test on fibre metal laminate based on carbon/flax fibre composites reinforced with silicon carbide for aircraft engine fire-designated zones

Abstract Due to the problems of flammability, weight and health risk associated with the materials in the fire designated zone of an aircraft engine, there is a need to develop new composites that will resolve the fire issues. Accordingly, new composites, the fibre metal laminates reinforced silicon carbide will be examined in this research. The fibre metal laminate composites using carbon/flax fibre will be tested with aluminium alloy. The study presents a novelty in hybridising the synthetic/natural fibre with nanocomposites in the fire designated zone of an aircraft engine. To ensure the validity of such composites, the fire resistance, and thermal properties of the materials were experimentally investigated in this research. Four laminates with different compositions were fabricated using the hand lay-up method: Carbon Fibre Reinforced Aluminium Alloy Laminate (CARALL), Carbon/Flax Fibre Reinforced Aluminium Alloy Laminate (CFFRAL) and one of each laminate with the inclusion of silicon carbide (SiC) nanoparticles as fillers. The main aim of the study is to investigate the fire operational performance of the fabricated composites for the fire designated zone of an aircraft engine at some high temperature for future use in aerospace industries. The composites’ different layers, stacking sequence, and materials with the same thickness will be fabricated in a mould using the hand lay-up method. The burn-through fire test will be carried out using a standardised burner. The results of the fire test on all the four laminates show that all the laminates are fireproof and although the laminates contain less than 37.5% of carbon fibre, it is still able to achieve nearly the same results as fully carbon fibre metal laminate.