Fiber Metal Laminates — The Synthesis of Metals and Composites

Fiber Metal Laminates are a new class of advanced aerospace materials. They consist of thin metallic sheets bonded together with fiber reinforced adhesive matrices. Their most outstanding characteristic is exceptional fatigue resistance, which stems from the crack bridging effect of the fibers in the prepreg layers. Because of the many advantages they offer, such as higher strengths and lower densities than conventional aluminum and better machinability and impact resistance than thermoset composites, fiber metal laminates are being considered for a number of primary aircraft applications, including lower wing and pressurized fuselage skin panels. This paper presents a survey of published literature on the subject of fiber metal laminates, tracing their advancement over the past decade and a half, from bonded aluminum sheets to the commercially manufactured forms of ARALL and GLARE.