THERMOPLASTIC COMPOSITE AND THERMOPLASTIC COMPOSITE/METALLIC HYBRID STRUCTURES

摘要

Thermoplastic composites are being recognized as very suitable material systems for many aerospace structures that require a high level of durability and toughness. These materials offer a lightweight, high strength and operational robustness that is able to surpass many metals and thermo-set composite materials. Additionally some of the process techniques that are currently available are able to offer overall manufacturing cost savings as well. Together, the material properties and manufacturing cost saving potential make these materials and their processing techniques favorable options in the aerospace community.rnIn conjunction, there are many applications that either require, or can benefit from, a hybrid structure that includes composite and metal. However, the integration of these materials into a single structure is a non trivial task.rnAutomated Dynamics and their in-situ fiber placement process are able to offer unique process techniques that are capable of fabricating both composite structures as well as metal/composite hybrids.rnThis paper discusses the manufacturing process associated with fabricating composite-metallic hybrid components and concentrates on evaluating composite to metal joint capabilities of these types of structures. Simple cylinders will be fabricated and tested to evaluate hybrid composite/metallic structure's joint integrity.