GLARE (glass fibre/epoxy reinforced aluminum laminate) is a member of the fiber metal laminate
(FML) family, and is built up of alternating metal and fiber layers. About 500m2 GLARE is employed in each
Airbus A380 because of the superior mechanical properties over the monolithic aluminum alloys, such as weight
reduction, improved damage tolerance and higher ultimate tensile strength. Many tons of new GLARE scraps
have been accumulated during the Airbus A380 manufacturing. Moreover, with the increasing plane orders of
Airbus A380, more and more end-of-life (EOL) GLARE scrap will be generated after retire of planes within forty
years. Thermal processing is a potential method for the material recycling and re-use from GLARE with the aim
of environmental protection and economic benefits. The current study indicatdes that thermal delamination is a
crucial pre-treatment step for the GLARE recycling. The decomposition behavior of the epoxy resins at elevated
temperatures was investigated by using the simultaneous thermal analysis, thermogravimetry analysis (TGA) and
differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Based on the thermal analysis results, GLARE thermal delamination
experiments at refined temperatures were carried out to optimize the treatment temperature and holding time.
ZHU Guo-liang1,2 (祝国梁), XIAO Yan-ping1,3 (肖艳萍), YANG Yong-xiang1,3,4 (杨永祥)
. Degradation Behavior of Epoxy Resins in Fibre Metal Laminates
Under Thermal Conditions[J]. Journal of Shanghai Jiaotong University(Science), 2012
, 17(3)
: 257
-262
.
DOI: 10.1007/s12204-012-1264-2
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