Thermal cycling fiber metal laminates: Considerations, test setup and results

Thermal cycling fiber metal laminates: Considerations, test setup and results

Müller, B.
Teixeira de Freitas, S.
Sinke, J.

Aerospace Engineering

Aerospace Structures & Materials

2015-07-19

The development of fiber metal laminates to multi-functional materials by embedding heater elements in the laminate extends their field of application. Fiber metal laminates with embedded heater elements are likely to be used for the de- and anti-icing of leading edges in aircraft as they combine structural and heating functions. Hence, those heated fiber metal laminates are exposed to frequent temperature changes when the de- or anti-icing devices are switched on. In order to examine the possible effects of thermal fatigue loading on the material characteristics, a thermal cycling setup was developed. The experimental setup has the ability to perform thermal cycling tests of materials with and without embedded heater elements. For structural materials, the thermal cycling setup provides external cooling and external heating using Peltier elements. For multi-functional materials (materials with embedded heater elements), the experimental setup enables thermal cycling tests by providing external cooling using Peltier elements and internal heating using the embedded heater mesh. The multi-functional material which is thermal cycled in this study is heated GLARE (Glass Laminate Aluminum Reinforced Epoxy). The temperatures recorded by thermo couples at different specimen positions are presented. The thermal cycle times were about 62 s for temperature cycles from 0°C to 60°C and 2 mm thick heated GLARE specimens. Similar thermal cycling times can be reached for both external cooling and heating and external cooling and internal heating. However, the use of Peltier elements to heat the specimens outer surfaces (external heating) leads to more homogeneous temperature distributions than when using the embedded heater elements as internal heating. The presented experimental setup can be adapted to different specimen dimensions, enables thermal cycling of multiple specimens of the same material, and is applicable for different temperature ranges and heating or cooling rates.

fiber metal laminates
GLARE
thermal cycling
thermal fatigue
moderate temperatures
heater elements
test setup

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:d71ccc58-bc28-4586-a1b9-89cbfdb90aa9

ICCM

ICCM 20: 20th International Conference on Composite Materials, Copenhagen, Denmark, 19-24 July 2015

Institutional Repository

conference paper

(c) 2015 The Author(s)