Mechanical performance of a novel environmentally friendly basalt-elium® thermoplastic composite and its stainless steel-based fiber metal laminate

A comparative performance study is conducted to better understand the mechanical performance of an environmentally friendly composite and its fiber-metal laminate (FML) renditions developed with natural fibers (basalt), and a novel room-cured liquid methyl methacrylate thermoplastic resin (Elium®) and also by a widely used room-cured epoxy resin (West System). Mechanical characterizations are performed using tensile, buckling and flexural tests. The results indicate that the composites fabricated with the acrylic-based Elium matrix could be considered as effective alternatives to those produced by thermoset epoxy resins. Moreover, the mechanical properties of a new generation of thermoplastic fiber metal laminates (TP-FMLs) fabricated by vacuum-assisted resin infusion technique are also investigated. The TP-FMLs are fabricated using stainless steel sheets, basalt fabric and Elium. Two different procedures are considered for fabricating the TP-FMLs; a one-step process consuming 24 h curing cycle time and a two-step process with 72 h curing cycle time. The mechanical responses of the developed TP-FMLs are compared against their equivalent monolithic environmentally friendly basalt-Elium counterparts, demonstrating the gain in mechanical responses that could be attained by employing the TP-FMLs.