Experimental Study on Mechanical Behavior of Liquid Nitrogen Conditioned Fiber Metal Laminates as Potential Cryogenic Materials

In this study, the idea of using fiber metal laminate (FML) as a potential lightweight material for cryogenic applications has been proposed. Although the FMLs are already used in the aerospace industry, where they provide excellent fatigue properties and corrosion resistance, their cryogenic durability is one of the main issues surrounding these materials for the extreme application. Since 5000 series aluminum alloy have been represented as an important class of structural materials for cryogenic applications, a novel FML based on the aluminum alloy 5083-H111 which was expected to withstand extreme cryogenic temperatures was developed. Following, to understand the cryogenic durability of these materials, the FMLs as well as conventional E-glass/epoxy (GE) composites were exposed to isothermal cryogenic aging and cryogenic thermal cycling in certain time durations. After the cryogenic conditioning, both the flexural tests and Charpy impact tests were conducted on conditioned specimens to examine the effect of cryogenic temperatures on the mechanical properties of studied materials.