Fibre Metal Laminates: An Introduction

Fibre metal laminates were developed at Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands, from the beginning of the 1980s. This is a new family of hybrid materials consisting of thin metal layers bonded together by fibres embedded in an adhesive. As a result of this build-up, fibre metal laminates possess a mixture of the characteristics of both metals and composite materials. Initial development led to the `Arall' variant using aramid fibres, which was first applied on the C-17 military transport aircraft around 1990. Large-scale application became possible with a variant using glass fibres, dubbed `Glare', which was selected for the Airbus A380 super jumbo in 2001. This is the first book to discuss these new materials and it deals mostly with Glare. It covers most of the relevant aspects of the materials, from static mechanical properties, fatigue and impact to design, production and maintenance of aircraft structures. This book contains the basic information on these new materials necessary for engineers and aircraft operators alike.