Makradi A., Bartelt J., Laachachi A., Bahtiti I., Akishin P., Zopp C., Zucker G., Berndt J., Barkanov E., Perrin H., Kroll L., Belouettar S.
Composites Part C Open Access, vol. 20, art. no. 100764, 2026
Inverse hybrid laminate structural composites are manufactured, consisting of an aluminium sheet sandwiched between two fiber-reinforced polyamide-6 composite layers. The present paper investigates the manufacturing process of this class of hybrid laminates, considering a U-shaped part. Numerical simulations, fed with material characterisation data, are conducted to understand material behaviour during the manufacturing process. Metal/composite adhesion is a common challenge in these hybrid laminates and strongly depends on their sub-components. The metal/composite adhesion is ensured by a commercial monolayer adhesive film based on functionalized polypropylene, augmented with a mechanical treatment of the aluminium sheet surfaces. The simulation is first validated on the manufacturing process results of glass fibres reinforced polyamid-6 composite, where the predicted overall thickness of the composite is compared to the one measured from the manufactured composite based U-shaped part. Further the developed composite model is used to predict the thickness of the hybrid U-shaped part. The manufactured hybrid U-shaped part as well as its subcomponents (aluminium sheet and the glass fibres reinforced polyamide-6 composite) are tested mechanically using a torsion test. The results show better performance of the hybrid U-shaped part relative to its U-shaped subcomponents.
