Experimental investigation of the effect of shape memory alloy wire embedding on the low-velocity impact behavior of fiber metal laminates composites at different temperatures

Fiber metal laminates (FMLs) are one of the most widely used hybrid polymeric composites in the aerospace and marine industries that are fabricated using the bonding between the metallic and polymeric layers. The combination of the advantages of both metals and composites is the main reason for the usage of the FMLs. Due to the application of FMLs under different temperature conditions, in the present study, the Charpy impact behavior of smart FMLs in comparison to fiber metal laminate was investigated at temperatures of -45, +25 and 90 °C. FML samples were made of two layers of 6061-T6 aluminum alloy and four layers of glass fiber-reinforced epoxy (GFRE), which shape memory alloy (SMA) wires by zero and 5% pre-strain were placed in the middle layers. The investigated parameters in this study were the number of SMA wires, the pre-strain effect of SMA wires, and also the effect of temperature on the energy absorption values of the FMLs. The results showed that the presence of two SMA wires at temperatures of -45, +25 and + 90 °C respectively caused the increment in the energy absorption by 14, 20 and 8%, compared to the without SMA wire samples.