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Fibre-metal laminateFML

A laminate of alternating thin metal sheets, usually aluminium alloy, and fibre-reinforced polymer layers bonded together. Fibre-metal laminates combine the fatigue and damage resistance of composites with the durability and inspectability of metal, and are used in aircraft fuselage skins.

Also known as: fibre metal laminate, metal-fibre laminate

Related terms

Hybrid composite

A composite combining two or more fibre types, such as carbon with glass or aramid, either mixed within a single fabric or as separate plies in one laminate. Hybridisation is used to balance cost, stiffness, impact tolerance and failure behaviour.

Composites & laminatesReinforcements & fibresAerospaceAutomotiveConstructionMarineGreen energyIndustrial

Laminate

A composite element built up from multiple bonded layers (plies) of reinforcement and matrix, consolidated and cured so that they act as a single structural material. Its stiffness and strength depend on the fibre orientations and stacking sequence of the plies.

Composites & laminatesAerospaceAutomotiveConstructionMarineGreen energyIndustrial

Skin

The thin, stiff facing laminate on each side of a sandwich structure, carrying the in-plane and bending loads while the core carries shear. The term is also used more generally for the outer aerodynamic or weathering surface of a composite structure.

Composites & laminatesCore materialsAerospaceAutomotiveConstructionMarineGreen energyIndustrial

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