Strengthening the bonding interfaces of carbon reinforced aluminum laminate by slot structure

Abstract A reliable strategy to enhance the bonding ability in carbon reinforced aluminum laminates (CARALL) is proposed, which is based on the mechanical interlocking effect generated by the surface slot structure of aluminum alloy enhances the structural interface between fibers/resins and aluminum alloy. The characteristic of slot structure is determined, and the strengthening mechanism of bonding interfaces is revealed. The CARALL samples with slot structure are fabricated via an hot pressing process. The micro texture morphologies, mechanical, interlayer bonding properties under different conditions are studied. The results indicate that forming a slot structure on the aluminum surface is beneficial for improving the interfacial bonding performance. Compared with the non‐slotted structure, the interlayer type II fracture toughness of the slotted structure is increased by 112.99%. The slotted structure can reduce the defects at the interface between the layers and improve the interface bonding force. In this work, the interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) of the slotted structure sample was 27.08% higher than that of the non‐slotted structure sample. Highlights A slotted structure was proposed to solve the problem of insufficient bonding strength. A slotted structure consistent with the direction of adjacent fibers is designed. The interlayer type II fracture toughness of the slotted structure is increased by 112.99%. The final crack propagation of the slotted structure sample is reduced by 40%. The final failure area of the slotted structure sample is reduced by 53.85%.