Journal of

Materials
Processing
Technology
ELSEVIER Journal ofMaterials Processing Technology 63 (1997) 384-394

Fiber Metal Laminates: An Advanced Material for Future Aircraft

A. ASUNDI and Alta Y.N. CHOI

Composite Research Laboratory Department of Mechanical Engineering
University of Hong Kong Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong

Abstract

Fiber Metal Laminates (FML) consist of thin, high strength aluminium alloy sheets alternately bonded to plies of fiber-reinforced epoxy
adhesive. They provide an ideal combination of metals and composites that results in a material, which combines the best features of
organic matrix composites and metals, without sharing their individual disadvantages. FML offer substantial weight savings relative to
current metallic structures. Further. the number of parts required to build a component may be dramatically less than the number of parts
needed to construct the same component of metal alloy. This can lead to labour savings. sometimes offsetting the higher price of the
present materials. These features, together with superior fatigue behaviour, damage tolerant properties. inherent resistance to corrosion,
good fire resistance for safety improvement, make FML very attractive candidate materials for future aircraft structures {I-3].
Later a new concept apply on this hybrid material: Fiber-Metal Laminates with Splice or Spliced Laminates. The development of spliced
laminates has been a logical step after the identifIcation of the favorable behavior of FML. Spliced laminates may provide a good solution
obtaining substantially increased dimensions of spliced products. The splicing concept offers the same benefit (20 - 50% weight savings)
as for a regular FML panel, but for much wider panels (> 4 meters). This increased width capability can result in a significant reduction
in manufacturing cost. These attributes make spliced laminates promising candidates for fuselage and lower wing materials for the next
generation of Very Large Civil Transport (VLCT) aircraft and the Ultra High Capacity Aircraft (UHCA) for 600 to 800 passengers [4].

1. Introduction

The rapid development of 'Fracture Mechanics' in recent
years has led to a new design concept. which of 'Damage
Tolerance' design. This new design philosophy was officially
introduced by the United State Air Force first in 1974. Four
years later, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
published a new Federal Airworthiness Regulations (FAR) Part
25.571, containing the damage tolerance and fatigue evaluation
certification requirements of transport category aircraft
structures. The FAA has also outlined an acceptable means of
compliance of the FAR 25.571. The European aviation
authority has also accepted this new design philosophy and has
issued it in JAR 25.571 (Joint Airworthiness Requirements).
Despite the stringent airworthiness requirements, several
accidents still have occurred as a result of fatigue cracking or
incidental damage, one of the famous examples of which is the
'Aloha accident'. Because of this accident, the airline industry
has made significant changes in the operation and maintenance
of all flights. In the recent years much attention is paid to
damage tolerance evaluation of aircraft fuselage structure,
particularly in pressurized fuselage shell structures. The
understanding of fatigue crack growth has indeed increased
considerably. Since the design of the first jet transport aircraft,
the load in the fuselage skin material has more than doubled
due to the increase of the fuselage diameter and higher cabin
pressures difference. However, knowledge of fatigue crack
growth in aircraft materials does not necessarily imply that
critical situations will no longer occur. Higher loading is more
often used to reduce the airframe weight.
In aircraft design, the structural weight has a significant
et1ect on flight performance. transport capacity and fuel
consumption. A low structural weight is of extreme importance
because the ratio (maximum payload)1 (maximum take-off
weight) is a measure for the aircraft efficiency, which is
obviously improved by decreasing the weight of the aircraft
structure. In order to achieve weight savings for aircraft
structures, high design stress levels have to be adopted. This
means that materials with a high specific strength are required.
The design of an modern aircraft fuselage structure demands
more refined techniques and improved materials. One of the
most important aspects of designing an aircraft fuselage
structure is to consider skin cracks resulting from fatigue and
to choose materials and stress levels in such a way that the
cracks will be discovered within a particular inspection interval
prior to their reaching a critical crack length that can let to
catastrophic failure: the fail-safe life corresponds to this time
interval between inspections. The length of this inspection
interval is a function of the residual-strength reduction rate, the
crack propagation rate and the fail-safe design criteria which
limits the residual strength to a limit load established by the
certifying agency.
This means that a crack which may initiate after an
inspection should not propagate to a critical length; i.e. the
residual strength should not decrease below the fail-safe design
load before the next inspection, during which the crack should
be detectable. The crack growth behaviour of the structure is
the decisive factor for the establishment of an inspection

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 A. Asundi, A.Y.N. Choi / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 63 (1997) 384-394 385

program. An acceptable safety level can thus be maintained by For this reason, ARALL Laminates material was
an inspection program. However, problems may also rise for introduced at 1978 in the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering at
several reasons: the Delft University of Technology (DUT). ARALL (Aramid
1. Inspections and repairs have an unfavourable effect on the Reinforced ALuminium Laminate) consists of thin, high
cost effectivity of the aircraft in service. strength aluminium alloy sheets alternately bonded to plies of
2. Inspection and repair depend on human skill, and the fiber-reinforced epoxy adhesive (Fig. 1.1) [I]. This new-class
quality of this type of work will vary from person to of material combines the best features of organic matrix
person. composites and metals. It has been widely regarded as a family
3. Fatigue critical areas can be detected during full scale of higher damage tolerance material with superior fatigue
tests under realistic conditions. If such tests are not behaviour and a high weight saving potential. However, it still
performed on critical areas, this could lead to catastrophic shows some disadvantages that are apparent after a better
failure in service. understanding of its fracture mechanism.
However, a structure containing features such as large
allowable damage and a long damage growth period is more
damage tolerant than a structure that depends on the inspection
programs. Unfortunately, catastrophic accidents of carefully
designed and tested, produced and maintained aircraft still
occur in service. It is very difficult to indicate the main causes
of such failures. Generally, most of the accidents are related to
some human factor and therefore can be prevented.
Three principal solutions for the problem are possible:
1. Shorten inspections period, which implies a less effective
use of the aircraft.
2. Decrease the allowable design stress, resulting in a
heavier aircraft construction.
3. Develop new aircraft materials with a better fatigue
resistance and preferably a higher specific strength and
lower density.
Obviously the last solution is the most attractive, both from the
point of safety and according to economic considerations. The
primary goal of a good fatigue design by using a new aircraft Fig.I.1 Build-up of a fiber-metal laminate
material is to attain a safe-life interval equal to the projected
lifetime of the aircraft. Based on the statistical aspects of Later, an improvement of ARALL with advanced high
fatigue, the safe-life may be defined as the initial life interval strength glass fibers, GLARE (GLAss REinforced), had been
during which the probability of crack initiation is at an developed in the same place at about 1990 [2]. GLARE,
acceptable low value. Fatigue failure during this interval compared to ARALL, has a better adhesion between the glass
implies fatigue crack initiation and not a complete failure. An tibers and the adhesive, provides a wider range of potential
optimum fatigue design should exhibit a high reliability safe-life applications (Fig. 1.2). Furthermore, it can apply the fibers in
for the purpose of aircraft availability and economical operation two directions to suit some place where biaxial stresses occur;
and a reasonably long fail-safe life for safety, and to some such as in fuselages and tailplanes. It has no fiber failure in
extent economical operation by minimizing the inspection fatigue load; such can occur in ARALL during particular
frequency. Generally, the aim in designing an aircraft structure loading situations (e.g.,R=O). International attention is now
in new materials is for it to carry the ultimate design load at the focused on the application of GLARE laminates as fuselage skin
end of its economic life, without inspection and repair during material.
that time.
Aluminium

Cross-plied
glass/epoxy

Fig. 1.2 Build-up of a cross-ply GLARE laminate Aluminium

386 A. Asundi, A.Y.N. Choi I Journal of Materials Processing Technology 63 (1997) 384-394
Further, a new concept for fibers - metal laminates
(ARALL & GLARE), the Spliced Laminates, is launched by
the Structural Laminates Company (SLC) in 1992 [3]. Spliced
laminates are defined as FML in which the aluminium layers
are interrupted such that the dimensions of the spliced sheets
depend on the autoclave dimensions only (Fig. 1.3). The
spliced laminates concept provides a possible way to produce
wide sheets (> 4 meters) for application as skin material for
large wide body aircraft such as the VLCT and UHCA. Parts
reduction can be expected if spliced laminates is used, as a
consequence of which weight and production cost saving can
also be expected as the main advantage.
Fig. 1.3 Splicing concept in a fiber - metal laminate [3]
For an ideal configuration, the locations of the splices is
better not reinforced with doublers. Without doublers, failures
mechanisms are initiated by the splice line (the weakest place
of the panel) when loads transverse to the splice orientation are
applied, but when splices are located in the loading direction,
the splices can act as crack stopper and may improve the
residual strength.
The residual strength of a material is defined as: 'The
strength of the material in the presence of a crack-like flaw'.
These flaw will occur in all engineering structures eventually.
It is important to know the consequence of these flaws with
respect to the integrity of the structures. The tools to make
quantitative predictions on the residual strength are provided by
models generated under the name of fracture mechanics. For
monolithic material fairly good models are available and are
currently being used in practice. For the fiber - metal
laminates, the R-curve approach method can be used to predict
the residual strength.
2. The development of a new aircraft material
2.1 Introduction
The development of a new generation aircraft is
influenced significantly by new materials. The development of
new materials for aircraft engineering applications should
include the consideration of all of the possible kinds of design
and component manufacturing problems at an early stage of the
development. Generally it takes many years before structural
applications are accepted by aircraft designers. The aircraft
designer is very much aware of the risk of introducing a new
material, because much has to be learned about a large variety
of properties. New production techniques have to be
introduced. The introduction of a new material requires
concerted efforts of various disciplines, and it anyhow starts
with the investing much time and money: In other words, it is
an economically risky.
The driving force behind such developments is the
everlasting incentive of reducing aircraft operating costs without
impairing the aircraft saf«ty level. Fuel consumption and
maintenance costs are two decisive aspects of the 'Direct
Operating Costs'. Continuous efforts have been made to design
aircraft structures in new materials in order to obtain significant
weight saving combined with minimum maintenance. That all
new materials deteriorate in service has to be taken into account
in design and in scheduled maintenance over the expected life:
however, the aircraft designer still demands the strong and stiff
materials at an acceptable weight and cost.
2.2 The Development of Adhesive-bonded Sheet Metal
Laminates
In the fifties year, an important goal of aircraft materials
development was to improve the crack growth properties of
structural materials. At the Delft University of Technology, it
was found that the fatigue crack growth rates in adhesive-
bonded sheet materials can be reduced. If they are built up by
laminating and adhesively bonding thin sheets of the material,
instead of using on one thick monolithic sheet [5]. The
advantage becomes highly evident if cracks start in one of the
sheets of the laminate only, the adhesive layers behaving as
crack dividers. Under these circumstances the sheets that are
still uncracked reduce the crack growth rate in the cracked
sheet. The reduction in the crack growth rates persists until a
crack is initiated in the neighbouring sheet also.
As a result, cracks grow independently in all layers of the
laminate without mutual interference. Crack growth in thin
sheet materials is slower than in plate material. because of the
plane-stress effect (Fig. 2.1). This explained why tiber - metal
laminates have such a high fatigue resistance, especially against
fatigue crack growth. The developments in Delft were primarily
guided by the aim to obtain a material with a high fatigue
resistance. The research on adhesive-bonded sheet metal
laminates is then became the predecessor of a new class of
materials, the fiber - metal Laminates.
C::==-_C=:=J11I-
Uuough
crock
porI
~~~~~gh LI ~
fatigue load: 80~/'OMPa o 100 200 300 /,00 500 x 1000
crack growth life untill failure [cycles
Fig. 2.1 Fatigue life of laminated aluminium alloy sheets [5]
2.3 The Development of Al-Li Alloy and Composites
Material
In commercial aVIatIOn and military transport aircraft
where aluminum material counts for about 80% of the
structural materials used, that material and its cost become
major economic problems. Aircraft manufacturers always want
 A. Asundi. A.Y.N. Choi / Journal C?f Materials Processing Technology 63 (1997) 384-394
to find a new replacement to reduce the cost and maintain the
standard of safety. During the last two decades, much attention
had paid to two families of new structural materials; new
aluminium alloys, such as Aluminum - Lithium (AI - Li) Alloy
and Composite Materials [6]. For some time it seemed as if
composite materials would replace aluminum as the material of
choice in new aircraft designs.
This put pressure on the aluminum developers to improve
their products, the result being the aluminum - lithium alloys.
Recently, these premier new alloys have become most
important aluminum material development. The new AI - Li
alloys, developed for simple replacements of the traditional AI-
alloys, which is about 10% lighter than conventional aluminum
alloys and about 10 % stiffer, and about 15 % weight reduction
fibre layer_
can be achieved for new design. Other properties should be at
least equivalent to those of the older alloys. It has been
established that the fatigue crack growth resistance of the Al -
Li alloy sheets is not yet satisfactory. The high cost of lithium
material, safety precautions in casting, the need for scrap
segregation and handling, and closer control of processing
parameters, all continue to an increase of product costs to more
than three times above those of conventional aluminum alloys.
The breakthrough of Al - Li alloys is still uncertain and
application in civil aircraft is still limited. However, aluminum
alloys will probably continue to be the principal materials in
airframe design for sometime yet, but these materials, however,
will have to be improved. Work is being done to improve the
ability of new aluminum alloys to resist corrosion and fracture.
The development of carbon fiber reinforced epoxies, the
so-called Advanced Composites, has a gentle improvement in
recent years. They were announced already in the fifties as the
fatigue insensitive material, giving 20 to 30% weight saving. In
addition, they were claimed to lead to cheaper production due
to less components. However, with composite materials will
also be necessary to evolve new structural design concepts to
achieve the weight savings. Forty years later, large weight
savings and extensive utilization of these composite materials
for primary parts in the aircraft structures is still rather low.
For several reasons, such as: high material price and production
costs and difficult prediction of material behaviours, extensive
application is still not yet realized for civil transport aircraft.
2.4 The Development of Fiber - Metal Laminates: ABALL
For an optimal structural design there is an obvious need
for new materials that combine high strength, low density and
high elasticity modulus with improved toughness, corrosion
resistance and fatigue properties. Fiber composites materials
almost cover all these demands, except for fracture toughness.
There is an important argument in favour of the continued use
of aluminium alloy in today aircraft primary structures,
especially so if fatigue is a design criterion.
In the year of 1978, another fundamental improvement of
the fatigue behaviour in laminate sheets material was obtained
by introducing a high strength Aramid Fiber into the adhesive
layers, the Dutch tiber Twaron which produced by Akzo being
selected. Therefore, the basic ideas of ARALL (Aramid
Reinforced ALuminium Laminates) as a highly fatigue-resistant
material were generated in the Structures and Materials
Laboratory of the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering of Delft
University of Technology. The laminates, where every prepreg
387
layer is supported by two metal layers, results in a very damage
tolerant material [7]. In the ARALL concept, unidirectional
fiber prepregs are used. This concept is very tolerant of
material inconsistencies. The fiber orientation is chosen into the
direction of the main load. The laminates is designed such that
the fibers do not fail, when fatigue cracks develop. That means
they remain intact behind the tip of the propagating crack in the
metallic layers (Fig.2.2). They hinder the opening of the
crack, and consequently, the crack tip stress intensity in the
aluminium sheet is reduced. [8]
C1luminium_
aluminium_
fibres bridging a crack
in the aluminium
Fig. 2.2 Fibers bridging a crack in aluminium, restricting
crack opening [8J
This behaviour can lead to improvement in the crack
growth rates by a factor of a hundred and even more, as
compared to monolithic aluminium alloy sheet. This
improvement also allows for weight savings up to 30% in
fatigue-critical aircraft components. Comparison of ARALL
laminates on a structural level with other aircraft materials
show that ARALL laminates are very attractive materials,
especially for fatigue dominated structural parts, such as the
lower wing skin and the pressurized fuselage cabin of an
aircraft [9J. In this way a new hybrid material ARALL has
been obtained. In 1984 two international patents were accepted
and a pilot production of four different types of standardized
ARALL was started by the Alcoa Company after sufficient
confidence in this material had been gained. One of these types
was adopted to design a full scale lower wing panel tor the
Fokker-27. In a t1ight-simulation fatigue test and a tina I
residual strength test on this panel, it was shown that a
considerable weight saving (30 %) and a considerably longer life
was possible [10].
2.4.1 The disadvantage of ARALL laminates
After an intensive study of ARALL laminates, some
disadvantages of the standardized ARALL emerged:
1. The aramid fibers have a low interface strength between
the fibers and the adhesive. Then, it is not possible to
produce an ARALL laminate with a fiber volume fraction
of above 50% with an acceptable peel strength and
satisfactory interlaminar shear properties.
2. Fiber failure in the crack bridging fiber layer does occur
under some fatigue load conditions (e.g. R=O). Although
the fatigue crack grow resistance is stil1 considerably
better than for AI-2024,it seriously affects the efficiency
of crack bridging. Post stretching can solve problems of
fiber failure, but post stretching wil1 increase production
cost and it is practically impossible for wide panel.
3. The anisotropic properties of ARALL with unidirectional
fibers prohibit its application in fuselage skin where a
388 A. Asundi. A.Y.N. Choi I Joumal of Materials Processing Technology 63 (/997) 384-394
biaxial stresses occur. A more isotropic ARALL with
fibers in more than one direction is desired.
4. ARALL has relatively poor notch behaviour; especially its
blunt notch strength compared to that of monolithic
aluminium alloy. It is though that the limited failure strain
(2.4 %) of aramid fibers is the main reason for the relative
poor notch behaviour.[ll]
Moreover, ARALL laminates as a hybrid material consisting of
aluminium alloy sheets, fibers and adhesive, can be designed in
different ways and lay-ups to overcome the problems as
mentioned above. Which ARALL variant should be used will
depend strongly on the application. Extensite test series and
design studies are already carried out.
2.4.2 The improvement of ARALL: Care laminates
Later, a much stiffer ARALL with carbon fibers instead
of aramid fibers, the Care Laminates, had been investigated in
DUT [12]. Recent research has shown that Care laminates also
have fiber failure occurred during tlight-simulation fatigue tests
at elevated stress levels, which resulted in poor fatigue
performance. The limited failure strain of the carbon fibers
(0.5-2.0%) was thought to be a disadvantage. Thus, it is
sensitive to notch behaviour comparing to monolithic aluminium
alloy. Due to the problem of galvanic corrosion between the
carbon fibers and the aluminium sheet in moisture environment,
more research has to be done. The future of Care laminates is
thus still uncertain.
2.5 The Development of GLARE Laminates
In the year about 1990, another attempt to improve
ARALL laminates, adopting high strength glass fiber instead of
aramid fibers, called GLARE (GLAss REinforced, or ARALL
with glass fibers) was developed successfully. The adhesion
between the glass fibers and the adhesive is much better than
that for aramid fibers. Moreover, glass fibers are much more
resistant if loaded into compression. As a consequence, fiber
failure in the glass fibers has rarely been observed during in
fatigue load. Other advantages of GLARE over ARALL are its
higher tensile and compressive strength, better impact
behaviour, higher ultimate strain and higher residual strength.
Because of the good bonding properties of the glass fibers to
the resin, it makes GLARE laminates with fibers build up in
two directions is possible (Fig. 2.3). This being much more
suitable for some constructions where biaxial stresses occur.
These properties seem to make GLARE has a wider range of
potential application .
.r----------"7~ Aluminium layer
- Glass-prepreg layer in 0°
Glass-prepreg layer in 90°
~ Aluminium layer
Glass-prepreg layer in 90°
- Glass-prepreg layer in 0°
'-...,~- Aluminium layer
Figure 2.3 3/2 lay-up of cross-ply GLARE Laminate [2]
The GLARE laminates were primarily developed to obtain
a material with a high fatigue crack growth resistance without
fiber failure, a better notch strength and fiber lay-up in biaxial
way. It implies that the application to the aircraft structure can
lead to: (i) large weight savings; (ii) improved safety; (iii) high
strength; (iv) fatigue insensitivity; (v) outstanding workshop
properties: (vi) good and easy repairability; (vii) excellent
damage tolerance; and (viii) production simplifications.
The superior behaviour of GLARE laminates can be translated
towards weight savings in aircraft structures combined with cost
savings in production" and maintenance. The production
simplification was proposed recently by Roebroeks [3], who
pointed out that sophisticated design details in view of fatigue
may become unnecessary. Research has shown that the GLARE
laminates can be machined in much the same way as the
traditional Al - alloy (e.g. cutting, drilling, contour milling,
etc).
The characteristics of GLARE result in an excellent low-
weight and tlame-resistant material. Tests have shown that an
1100°C oil-burner tlame does not penetrate through a GLARE
3 sheet even after 15 minutes of direct tlame impingement [3].
Temperature measurements on the non-exposed side of the
sheet showed a significant heat reduction over the thickness,
with the cold side not reaching 300 DC. During tlame testing
the exposed thin aluminum sheet burns away in 10-20 seconds
and the bi-directional glass fiber layers delaminate from the
next aluminum layer and thus act as a flame barrier. This stable
situation will be reached within one minute and does not change
for the duration of the test. Recently tlame tests have been
completed approving GLARE for cargo areas.
The fire resistance of the materials used as fuselage skin
is an important aspect of the crash worthiness of an aircraft.
The improved fire resistance should be considered for large
passenger aircraft (> 500 passengers ) in view of the short
escape time during a crash when the aircraft can catch fire.
According to Airworthiness Regulations, in the event of fire,
emergency evacuation must take place within 90 seconds. With
the increased size of the aircraft it will be considerably more
difficult to achieve this requirement without additional, and
probably significant, weight penalties (more emergency escape
doors, etc.).A fire resistant material such as GLARE offers
increased evacuation time, and as a consequence, weight and
cost benefits. However, GLARE laminates could be the only
option from a safety standpoint of view for large parts of the
new generation of Ultra High Capacity Aircraft (UHCA).
Fig. 2.4 A future Ultra High Capacity Aircraf (Super-Jumbo)
for 600 to 800 passengers
 A. Asundi, A.Y.N. Choi / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 63 (1997) 384-394
GLARE promises lighter airframes with longer life and
better fatigue resistance. Such weight savings will result in
greater payload for a given take-off weight, and hence greater
fuel economy. However, the acceptance of this new materials,
as always, will depend on both the cost balance throughout the
life of the aircraft and the development of new techniques of
construction to make the best use of the material's properties.
Regardless, these attributes make GLARE laminates promising
candidates for fuselage and lower wing materials for the next
generation aircraft as mention above.
One possible disadvantage of GLARE is the slightly lower
stiffness compared to that of monolithic aluminium alloy and
ARALL. This is especially true for laminates with crossed fiber
layers (biaxial GLARE) which are used for fuselage skin
application. The high material price is also an obstacle for the
replacement of AI-alloy by GLARE, because the cost per
square-meter of GLARE is about ten times greater than that of
A12024-T3 price.
2.5.1 The production of GLARE
At the present time four standard GLARE laminates
materials are available commercially produced by Structural
Laminates Company (SLC, a joint venture of Akzo and Alcoa.
ARALL laminates is a trade name used by Alcoa for ARALL
with aramid fibers. GLARE is another trade name used by
Akzo for ARALL with R-glass fibers).
ARALL and GLARE are produced with a standard
bonding technology. After the hot-curing (l200C) cycle in the
autoclave, the fiber-metal laminates carry a residual stress
system over the thickness of the material, with a small tensile
stress in the AI-sheets and compression in the fibers: this is not
favourable for fatigue behaviour. A post-stretching operation
after the curing cycle can reverses the residual stress system
and solve the problem, thus a tension stress occurs in fibers and
compression in the AI-sheets. But post-stretching causes extra
production cost and it is practically impossible for wide panels.
2.5.2 The application of GLARE
Aircraft manufacturers, institutes and universities are
continuing investigation of GLARE. Some applications are
Table 2.1 Commercially available standard GLARE products [2]
GLARE 1 GLARE 2
Aluminium-alloy 7075-T6 2024-T3
Thickness (AI) (mm) 0.2 - 0.5 0.2 - 0.5
Thickness (fiber) (mm) 0.25 0.25
Fiber orientation Unidirectional Unidirectional
Post stretched 0.3 - 0.5 % - ---
Fatigue Superior Good
Strength Superior Superior
389
already realized or are in the final stage of realization. Due
toits excellent impact performance (13], GLARE is considered
by several aircraft manufacturers and airlines for floor
applications; some have already specified, and baseline GLARE
for this application. The impact characteristics also make
GLARE an excellent material for impact sensitive areas, such
as; the cockpit crown, forward bulkheads, the leading edge.
Most of these components have already considered and
investigated by several manufacturers.
The flame-resistant capability of GLARE makes it suitable
for flame sensitive areas such as; fire walls, cargo-liners, etc.
However, this characteristic is especially attractive for fuselage
design because of the considerable increase in safety and
evacuation time. The fatigue and damage tolerance aspects of
GLARE provide signiticant weight as well as cost savings.
Weight savings range from 15 to 30%. Applications of GLARE
in fuselage skins has shown weight savings of 15 to 25 % for
the Airbus family. In a cooperative effort, Airbus Industries,
Deutsche Aerospace Airbus and Structural Laminates Company
have designed and manufactured a spliced GLARE window
panel for the Airbus A-330/340.
International attention is now focused on the application
of GLARE laminates as an aircraft fuselage skin and structural
material. Most of the design requirements for GLARE fuselage
structures are much the same as those for monolithic
aluminium. An important feature of the fuselage structural
design in GLARE is that no reinforcements are necessary at the
location of the stringers and the frames that attach to the skin.
The skin of the fuselage pressurized cabin is carrying a biaxial
cyclic tensile stress at a very low frequency during each flight.
The riveted joints in pressurized fuselages are exposed to severe
fatigue loading in both the longitudinal and circumferential
directions. For the application as a fuselage skin material, a
cross-ply build up GLARE 3, with excellent fatigue resistance,
higher tensile strength and lower density compared to monolith
aluminium, is necessary to fit the severe and biaxial-load
conditions in the fuselage skin.
Since GLARE has proven to be a highly fatigue resistant
material with a lower specific weight comparing with
monolithic aluminium alloy. The lower specific weight is very
important because GLARE is much more expensive than
aluminium alloy as was mentioned in paragraph 2.5. Therefore,
GLARE 3 GLARE 4
2024-T3 2024-T3
0.2 - 0.3 0.2 - 0.4
0.25 0.375
Cross-ply 50/50 Cross-ply 67/33
--
Good Good
Good Superior
390 A. Asundi, A. Y.N. Choi / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 63 (1997) 384-394
GLARE can only replace aluminium alloys if considerable
weight savings are possible. If GLARE 3 is supposed to be a
weight saving material for fuselage skin, it implies that higher
allowable stress levels in both the longitudinal and
circumferenctial directions need to be adopted. The higher
stress may be considered as combined effect of the lower skin
thickness and the lower Young's Modulus.
Feasibility studies for the application of GLARE materials
in wide body aircraft fuselage skin have confirmed that a
weight savings can be obtained without changing the skin-frame
connection design [14). Therefore, it is possible that only an
exchange of the skin material is required. Feasibility studies for
the application of a GLARE 3 skin in a narrow body aircraft
Airbus A-320 fuselage have been performed [15, 16). The
results of the studies were very promising for the use of
GLARE 3 in a fuselage skin. The studies revealed higher
loaded frames in the GLARE 3 fuselage, compared to the
conventional monolithic aluminium fuselage.
However, this may be the main disadvantage of cross-ply
GLARE 3 in particular, is its relative lower stiffness, compared
to that of monolithic aluminium. This lower stiffness can cause
higher loads in fuselage frames when GLARE 3 is used as a
fuselage skin material. A modification of the frames and/or
frame-skin attachments could be required tor particular types.
That is better a new improvement of this material that the
stiffness has to be increased in a way that they can be used as
a skin material without major changes of fuselage design.
The number of parts that used in aluminium alloy fuselage
skin structures can also be reduced by using GLARE 3 because
of the superior fatigue and damage tolerance behaviour of this
material. The number of locations where doublers are required
will be reduced for GLARE 3. No reinforcements are needed
at the location of the stringers and frames, which is in contrast
with the current structures in aluminium where reinforcements
at these locations are needed in order to retard crack initiation
Skin"
Iongerons
Cowling cover
Spar caps ---->--L1
Access covers --+-.t:l'
Access doors
SlalS ---1-1/;;":'
Ailerons
llaps
Fig.2.4 Candidate areas tor Aerospace ARALL and GLARE [17)
and propagation. Reinforcements are also needed at the
locations of the joints for the same reason. If possible, the
joints should also be designed without reinforcements: the
reinforcements at the joints of the aluminium alloy design are
mainly meant to reduce the fatigue stresses.
For GLARE 3, with excellent fatigue properties,
reinforcements will not be necessary from a fatigue point of
view. The presence of reinforcements will not only increase the
structural weight but will also increase the production costs of
the aircraft manufacturers and the operating costs of the
airliners. The production cost is an important aspect for the
aircraft designer and the manufacturer, whilst the operating cost
is a decisive aspects for the airliners.
2.6 The Concept of 'Spliced Laminates'
Current aluminum alloy, as well as FML sheets, are
somewhat limited in width due to available rolling mill
dimensions. However, there is now a new possibility of
minimizing the number of joints and for parts reduction. using
Spliced Laminates. Spliced laminates are defined as fiber -
metal laminates (ARALL & GLARE) in which the aluminium
layers are interrupted such that the dimensions of the spliced
product depend on the autoclave dimensions only. The
restriction of the width (±2.3 meter) of the thin aluminium
alloy sheet available to the aircraft industry can be solved by
means of spliced laminates. Thin aluminium sheets are
laminated with a very narrow seam in between. The seams in
the various aluminium sheets are at different locations such that
they are bridged by both fiber layers and the unspliced
aluminium layers (see Figure 1.3).
Spliced laminates should be considered in the first place
for aircraft components of a large size; the pressurized
fuselage, the tension skin of the lower wing and the tailplanes.
They will provide only a moderate (±3%) weight reduction
Lower wing skin
Lower wing stringers
Skin
 A. Asundi, A.Y.N. Choi I Journal of Materials Processing Technology 63 (1997) 384-394
(reduction of joints over the whole fuselage), but a tremendous
cost reduction in production. In small fatigue critical parts, the
weight saving may be limited, but the high life-time, and more
in particular the long inspection intervals, can be very
attractive. Beside the weight saving in aircraft constructions,
saving in production costs is always an important motive for the
application of a new material. Since such costs amount to about
35 % of the total aircraft initial expense. For spliced laminates
the number of lap joints in the fuselage skin can also be
reduced by 50 %!
Obviously, the splices are a kind of joint which might
cause a reduction in performance if loads are applied
transversely to the splice lines: this has been investigated in
some tests carried out by the authors. The reduction in material
performance is rather small. However, if loads applied in the
direction of the splice lines, the splices act like crack stoppers
in the test and the residual strength can be improved. The
fatigue properties were also seen to have a comparable
behaviour in other test carried out by Roebroeks [18).
It was realized that materials can be accepted only if their
behaviour is well understood in terms of failure mechanisms
and the consequences of the production techniques employed.
There is the need to have a close look at the material to see
what happens to it, and to try to understand its behaviours. This
is more relevant in view of the hybrid character of spliced
laminates. However, as for any new material, application
requires developments studies to explore the various
technological and design requirements involved: it is not simply
a matter of consulting handbook data on the mechanical and
physical properties of the material. Fortunately, a lot of work
has already been done by many predecessors.
3. The Practical use of spliced Lamillates ill Aircraft
Fuselage Skin
3.1 Illtroduction
The modern aeronautical engineering of aircraft design has
been an evolutionary process accelerated tremendously in recent
times from the demanding requirements for safety and the
pressures of competitive economics in structural design with
new materials. The primary objective of the aircraft structural
designer is to achieve the maximum possible safety margin and
achieve a "reasonable" lifetime of the aircraft structure.
Figure 3.1 The splicing concept for GLARE 3
391
The demand for a high pay load necessitates an
economical use of the materials of construction, and hence a
more accurate prediction of .strength than is the case with most
engineering structures. This is enhanced further by reduction of
safety factors, over recent years, from the general value of 2.0
to 1.5: a factor of 1.33 may be considered in the future.
Decisions involving the use of new materials in aircraft fuselage
structures will frequently be based on whether or not it will be
cost effective in the intended application. Raw material and
manufacturing costs will therefore be important consideration.
A very small niargin of weight can determine the
difference between excellent and poor performance of an
airplane. If the structure and equipment of a successful model
were increased only 5 % of its gross weight, the consequent
reduction in fuel or pay load may well mean cancellation of a
contract. In transport aircraft the gross-weight limit is definitely
stipulated; thus, any increase in empty weight will be offset bya
reduction in fuel or pay load. Structural weight, and therefore
the use of new light materials, has always been important.
When a modern full-loaded subsonic transport aircraft takes off.
only about 20% of its total weight is payload. Of the remaining
80%, roughly half is aircraft empty weight whilst the other half
is fuel. Hence, any saving of structural weight can lead to a
corresponding increase in payload. Alternatively, for a given
payload, saving in aircraft weight means reduced power
requirements. Therefore, it is not surprising that the aircraft
manufacturer is always prepared to invest heavily in weight
reduction.
If performance and strength are kept constant. a saving of
structural weight is also accompanied by savings in fuel, the
use of smaller engines, smaller wings to keep the same wing
loading and so on, such that the savings in take-off weight of
the aircraft to do the same job is much greater than the weight
sa ved on the structure alone.
3.2 The Applicatioll of Spliced Laminates in Aircraft
Fuselage Skin
The most efficient aircraft fuselage structure is the one
with the least number of joints: in an effort to minimize the
number of joints, a realistic solution is available with spliced
laminates (Fig. 3.1). Thus, large skin panels. limited only by
available manufacturing techniques, are possible. The use of
spliced laminates offers a very suitable alternative, thus the
restriction of available widths of thin aluminium sheet can be
- Aluminium layer
-Glass pre. layer 0°
Glass pre. layer 90°
Aluminium layer
Glass pre. layer 90°
Glass pre. layer 0°
Aluminium layer
392 A. Asundi, A.Y.N. Choi / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 63 (1997) 384-394

solved. Stringers, rolled from strip stock, have a limited length,
which can be increased by using spliced laminates.
Reduction of the number of joints has three primary beneficial
effects:
I. It will reduce the manufacturing cost of the fuselage by
significantly reducing the number of rivets and affording
a reduction in workshop effort (drilling,sealing and
riveting, etc ... ).
2. It will reduce the weight of the structure.
3. The operational cost can be reduced by reduced
maintenance cost, i.e., inspection as well as repair costs.
FML allow for the possibility of fabricating very wide
sheets by the splicing technique.
It would be expected that the splices have an effect on
material properties. However, the results of a continuing
research program indicate only a limited reduction in strength
and very limited effect on the fatigue performance. This
material will be of special interest for the fuselage of the VLCT
whereby two fuselage production concepts can be considered.
Manufacturing the fuselage with sheets transverse on the
fuselage (see Figure 3.2 a ), will reduce the number of
transverse joint, including stringer couplings. It also provides
the possibility of locating large doors and their surrounding
structures within one' sheet, which will result in weight
reduction as well as cost reduction. If skin sheets are located
longitudinally at the fuselage (see Figure 3.2 b), wide width

Figure 3.2 Spliced laminated GLARE sheets on fuselages

a. Transverse located

>2m.
I. ·1

>10m.

b. Longitudinal located

T 1j-'_ _~__..,.-_--:_>_1°_01.-;-_ _-:-_ _..,.-_--:_ _. . ;.1

>2m.

., ."'"
'.
 A. Asundi, A.Y.N. Choi / Journal qf Materials Processing Technology 63 (1997) 384-394
sheets will reduce the number of longitudinal joints and
consequently reduce weight and cost. It has been assumed in
the present investigation that the splice location in GLARE 3
will not be reinforced with doublers as for the Deutsche
Aerospace Airbus (DAA) spliced fuselage panel. This will
result in failure mechanisms initiated by the splices for loads
transverse to the splice orientation. Therefore, reinforcements
at the splice area may be necessary to meet the static and/or
residual strength requirements (Fig. 3.3) .That can prevent the
fracture toughness reducing in comparison to the basic (non-
spliced) laminates. Reinforcements may only apply on the
inside of the fuselage skin, thus maintaining the aerodynamic
qualities of the fuselage structure. However, from the point of
view in weight and production cost saving, the un-reinforced
splice is always the ideal configuration.
Fundamental for the success of spliced laminates (biaxial
GLARE) for using as aircraft fuselage skin material is base on
the material quality and the laminate behaviour. GLARE is an
aerospace material with superior fatigue properties. It is very
attractive especially for fatigue-dominated structural parts, since
the glass fibers are fatigue insensitive and able to bridge the
cracks in the aluminium layers. Fatigue is therefore no longer
the critical design parameter as it is for aluminium alloy. It
then becomes possible to apply high design stresses in the
originally fatigue critical components of the aircraft structures.
The critical design parameter for GLARE now appear to be
residual strength. The residual strength of a structure, depends
mainly on two factors: (i) the design features, i.e. the structure
design concept; and (ii) the fracture toughness properties of the
• ~ fiber direction transverse to splice direction
b@m::·m:";~il§i~@j = fiber direction parallel to splice direction
GLARE 3 - 2/1 - 0.2
I:::: .; .:; : ;: :;:;( ;::
!
•
:4
if;'~E:i;a~:};::~£~1~r":::::':.:~: : : : :; : .1 ::::::::
~
!
~
• t
)04
1.5 inch 1.5 inch' 1.5 inch
Figure 3.3 Reinforcement with GLARE Doubler over splice area
References
1. Vogelesang L.B. and Gunnink 1.W., 'ARALL, A
Material for the Next Generation of Aircraft, Delft
University of Technology', The Netherlands
2. Roebroeks G.H.J.J., 'Towards Glare, The Development
of a Fatigue Insensitive and Damage Tolerant Aircraft
Material', Delft University of Technology, The
Netherlands (1991)
3. Roebroeks G.H.J.J., 'Fiber Metal Laminates, Recent
Development and Application'. Symp. on Fatigue of
Aircraft Material, Delft (1992)
393
material. For a fuselage skin with a biaxial GLARE with
splices, the residual strength and remaining fatigue life after
large scale accidental damage seem to be the realistic
certification subjects.
4 CONCLUSIONS
FML (ARALL and GLARE) provide the favorable mechanical
properties as followings. It inclUding:
I. High strength, thus a greater allowable design stress.
2. Low density, thus' greater possible weight savings.
3. Fire resistance, with improved safety and the need for less
emergency exit doors.
4. Fatigue insensitivity, with less repair and a longer
maintenance period
5. Outstanding workshop properties, with production
simplifications and significant cost reductions.
6. Excellent damage tolerance, less additional parts in
component structures providing weight and production-
cost reduction
The above favorable factors make FML a promising candidate
for the fuselage and lower wing skin materials for the next
generation of large aircraft. After the splicing concept
successfully apply on the FML, it is possible to produce a
wider panel. Component parts and joints can be further
reduced, weight and production-cost saving being the main
advantages. The splicing concept could be the only option from
a safety point of view for the large parts of the new generation
of Very Large Civil Transport (VLCT) aircraft and Ultra High
Capacity Aircraft (UHCA)[19) .
Z024,·Tl 0.2""""
t
~! Spliced GLARE 3 - 3/2 - 0.3
1.5 inch
4. Vogelesang L.B., 'Het Universiteit's laboratorium als
Technisch Wetenschappelijke Werkvloer voor de
Industrie', Delft University of Technology, The
Netherlands (1992)
5. Schijve 1. , Lipzig H. van, Gestel G., Hoeymaker A.
'Fatigue properties of adhesive-bonded laminated sheet
material of aluminium alloy', Engineering Fracture
Mechanics, Vol. 12 (1979), pp 561-579
6. Niu M.C.Y., 'Airframe Structural Design', California,
U.S.A.
394 A. Asundi. A.Y.N. Choi / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 63 (1997) 384-394
7. Roebroeks G.H.J.J., and Vogelesang L.B., 'Fatigue of
Fiber-Metal Laminates', 9th Int. Spring Meeting Fatigue
of MMC and Multimaterials, Paris (1990)
8. Marissen R., 'Fatigue Crack Growth in Arall, a hybrid
Aluminium-Aramid Composite Material' , Delft University
of Technology, The Netherlands (1984)
9. Vogelesang L.B. and Gunnink J.W., 'Aerospace Arall,
The Advancement In Aircraft Materials', Proceedings of
the 35th Intern. SAMPE Symp. Anaheim, California,
U.S.A. (1990)
10. Veggel L. van, 'Damage Tolerance Aspects of an
Experimental Arall F-27 Lower Wing Skin Panel', Arall
users conference, Seven Springs (1987)
11. Vermeeren C.A.I.R., 'The Blunt Notch Behaviour of
Fiber-Metal Laminates : Arall and Glare', Delft
University of Technology, The Netherlands (1992)
12. Vermeeren C.A.I.R., The Application of Carbon Fibers
in Arall Laminates', Delft University of Technology, The
Netherlands (1991)
13. Vlot A., 'Impact Loading on Arall Laminates and other
Aircraft materials' Delft University of Technology, The
Netherlands (1991)
14. Ohrloff N. and Horst P., 'Feasibility Study of the
Application of Glare materials in ide Body Aircraft
Fuselage', 13th European Chapter Conference ofSAMPE,
Hamburg (1992)
15. Oost R.van, Slagter W., Wimersma Greidanus B. van,
Zaal K., 'Feasibility study of the A-320 fuselage section
13/14 in Aerospace Arall', Delft University of
Technology, The Netherlands
16. Wimersma Greidanus B. van. 'Design and Testing of a
Circumferential and Longitudinal Joint of the A-320
Fuselage section "13/14 in Glare', Delft University of
Technology, The Netherlands
17. Pho I.C.C., 'Fracture Mechanics of Glare and
Quantitative Prediction of Residual Strength', Delft
University of Technology, The Netherlands (1992)
18. Roebroeks G.H.J.J., 'Strength and Fatigue behavior of
Splice Laminates. Preliminary Data'. Structural
Laminates Company, The NetherlandslU.S.A. (1992)
19. Choi A.Y.N., 'Residual Strength Prediction for Fiber-
Metal Laminates with Splice: The R-Curve Approach
Method', Delft University of Technology, The
Netherlands (1994)