Roll-bonding of metal-polymer-metal sandwich composites reinforced by glass whiskers at the interface

Metal-polymer laminate composites are widely used in various industries, including automobile, aerospace, marine and civil construction because of their high specific stiffness and strength, and excellent fatigue and corrosion properties. In this study, glass whisker dispersed metal-polymer-metal laminated composites have been fabricated using the warm roll-bonding (WRB) process as roll bonding can provide advantages over other techniques due to its simplicity and scaling capability. The reinforcing effects of the glass whisker on the adhesion strength and shear resistance were analyzed. A small punch test (SPT), single lap shear test, and T-peel test were used to evaluate the mechanical and bonding properties, and electron microscopy was employed to analyze the fracture behavior of the whisker-reinforced laminate composites. The shear strength of the glass whisker reinforced sandwich composite improved nearly 40% when compared with the unreinforced samples. The SPT results showed increase in the ultimate load, specific load, and specific fracture energy for the samples with glass whiskers incorporated between the roll-bonded layers.