Aluminum/glass-fiber-reinforced polypropylene (Al/GFPP) laminates were manufactured by using various surface pretreatment techniques. Adhesion at the composite/metal interface was achieved by a surface pretreatment of Al sheets with amino-based silane coupling agents, incorporation of a polyolefin-based adhesive film and modification with a PP-based film containing 20 wt.% of maleic-anhydride-modified polypropylene (PP-g-MA). In order to increase the effect of bonding between components of the laminates, the combination of silane treatment and the addition of the PP-based film was also investigated. The mechanical properties (shear, peel, and bending strengths) of adhesively bonded Al/GFPP laminates were examined to evaluate the effects of the surface treatments mentioned. It was revealed that the adhesion in the laminated Al/GFPP systems could be improved by the treatment of aluminum surface with an amino-based silane coupling agent. Judging from the results of peel and bending strength, with incorporation of polyolefin-based films, adhesion in the Al/GFPP laminates increased significantly. The modification of Al/GFPP interfaces with a PP-g-MA/PP layer led to the highest improvement in their adhesion properties. The combination of surface modification with silane and addition of PP-based films did not yield the high bending strength desired. This may be due to the insufficient bonding between silane groups and PP-based films.
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Russian translation published in Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 49, No. 3, pp. 465–476 , May-June, 2013.
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Baştürk, S.B., Guruşçu, A. & Tanoğlu, M. Interfacial properties of aluminum/glass-fiberreinforced polypropylene sandwich composites. Mech Compos Mater 49, 317–324 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11029-013-9349-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11029-013-9349-z