Improved mechanical properties of environmentally friendly jute fibre reinforced metal laminate sandwich composite through enhanced interface

Natural plant based fibres are being increasingly used in sustainable fibre reinforced composite applications in order to meet the demand of using environmentally friendly materials for composites. Fibre metal laminates (FMLs) are used in aerospace, automobile, marine and civil engineering applications, due to their excellent mechanical behaviors compared to traditional metals and their alloys. This study describes a novel fabrication of jute fibre reinforced aluminum metal laminates, using different jute fibre architectures (plain and twill fabric structures), wherein jute fibres were used in the skins and aluminum in the core layers. Jute fibres and aluminum sheets were chemically treated to enhance the compatibility and interfacial bonding at fibre-metals-matrix interfaces. FMLs were manufactured by hot pressing technique, after the application of…