AN EVALUATION OF MECHANICAL AND FORMABILITY PARAMETERS OF ALUMINIUM BASED POLYPROPYLENE SANDWICH MATERIALS

Sandwich materials have been gaining acceptance in variety of applications ranging from building materials and toys to automobile, locomotives and aircrafts. In this research paper, a study is carried out on sandwich sheets comprising of AA5182 as the skin material, polypropylene as the reinforcement with orientation of 0o, 45o and 90o with respect to rolling direction and epoxy resin as the binder element. The said sandwich sheets were fabricated using hand layup technique because of its ease and effectiveness to produce bulk materials. The resulting materials had the configuration of 2/1 i.e., AA/PP/AA. Mechanical examinations were carried out to determine its tensile strength, impact strength, flexural strength and Erichsen cupping index. Microscopic tests on the fractured surfaces obtained after the above mentioned examinations were taken using Scanning Electron Microscope. The experimental results found to have good mechanical properties for the material especially on the sandwich sheet having 90o orientation of the polypropylene against the rolling direction. Notable enhancement in the mechanical property of the sandwich sheet include good load bearing capabilities during flexural tests, decent Erichsen cupping index and resistance to low velocity impact loads.