GLARE is a new type of
material that has been in
development at the
Delft University of Technology for the past 25 years. It consists of
alternating layers of
aluminium and
glass fib
res (the stuff that
fibre glass things are made of, like the
hulls of most
yachts and modern 'plastic'
sailplanes). These layers of metal and
fibre are glued together using an
epoxy. This type of
laminate has been dubbed 'Fibre-
reinforced Metal Laminate' or
FML.
The fibre layers to produce an FML come in a pre-
impregnated layer, a so-called
prepreg. The
impregnate being the epoxy necessary to
glue the different layers together. Alternating layers of aluminium and prepregs are
stacked up and then
cured in an
autoclave under controlled
temperature and
pressure conditions. What comes out after this curing is a ready to use
sheet of FML.
The main
application for GLARE is thought to be in the
aircraft industry, but it has many possible applications. At the moment the
Airbus A380, the next step in
aircraft design and
manufacturing, will depend on GLARE to provide
strength,
resistance against
metal fatigue cracks and low
weight properties in a number of
structures in the
plane. Most notably in the
fuselage itself. The first
series will have parts of the fuselage made out of GLARE, but the idea is to eventually produce the entire fuselage using GLARE.
The
advantages of GLARE are:
Sources:
http://www.sml.lr.tudelft.nl/glare/index.html
http://www.glareconference.com/GlareLargeAircaft.pdf
September 5, 2001